Hands and Tools
by Xaori
Summary: Post RE5. Jill comes back from her traumatic experience and feels nothing more than emptiness. A new friend can help her cope with the past and make her understand that there's nothing that can't be fixed. Claire and Jill saving the day!
1. I - Back

**Resident Evil and all of its characters belong to Capcom. But you already know that.**

* * *

 **-I-**

 **Back**

 _Tuesday, 6pm_

She sighed deeply watching the trees they were passing by. The woods and meadows could be compared neither to the dry land in Kijuju, nor to the sterile hospital walls she had been staring at day after day during the rehab. It had been several months since she'd finally returned to the US after years of captivity, if it could actually be called so. But right after coming back, she had found herself locked away again, in hospitals and labs. And though she perfectly knew it was a chance to help herself and others, fighting evil just seemed a more pleasant way of work. Now, after rehabilitation, she was a free woman again. Physically, she was almost the same Jill Valentine as before, except for the hair, which had never recovered its natural tone. But deep inside her everything had changed.

She looked at the surroundings and recognized familiar environments. The smells and sights told her it was the place where she'd lived before that tragedy, but she didn't feel like coming home. This was the home of the Jill she had been before entering the Spencer Estate; before tackling Wesker through the window in order to save her partner; before becoming a lab rat and, even worse, Excella's puppet, murdering and infecting innocent people. Now, she wasn't that old Jill anymore, not even a shadow of her. All that was left was just a broken version of what she used to be. Unable to hold a weapon, afraid of being touched and not standing being alone - she'd become useless to the BSAA and to herself.

Chris was driving. He had done an incredible job this whole time, as well as his partner in Kijuju, Sheva. Together they had not only freed her from the device which provided her body with a constant dose of P30, they had also stopped and killed Wesker. After all those years seeding chaos, Albert Wesker was dead - for good this time. And what had SHE done meanwhile? She had been an instrument of Wesker's horrible plans and nothing could ever ease all the pain she had caused. And she didn't even know how to feel about all the happenings. The strange emptiness in her didn't leave any space for other emotions, not even if it came to such severe things like murder. She was wondering if she'd ever be able to feel anything again. Chris looked at her.

"How are you?," he asked.

"I'm alright," she lied. How many times had she told him those exact words in the past months, since the first time back in the catacombs in Africa?

When her eyes met his smile, Jill became aware of how her body didn't react to that stimulus anymore. She had loved his smile from the very first time they had met at S.T.A.R.S. and she had always wanted to tell him that the moments he smiled reminded her that life was more than fighting. But she never could gather enough courage to tell him how she felt about him, about them both. Now it was too late. She didn't feel it anymore. She actually didn't feel anything at all.

Jill was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice how Chris drove into a wide street with big houses on each side, with beautiful gardens and shiny cars parked in front. He stopped his Jeep in front of a pretty single family home with white walls and roses in the garden. The dim twilight bathed the whole street in an orange-red tone. Birds sang and crickets chirped. Everything seemed quiet and lovely. Too quiet and lovely. Jill gave Chris a questioning look.

"When did the BSAA decide to move their headquarters to the suburbs?" She lifted an eyebrow. Ever since she'd come back from Africa she'd expressed her wish to return to work as soon as possible.

"Jill," he said, turning off the engine, "I know you'd like to get back to work right away." He stared at the confused look in his partner's eyes and took a deep breath. "But you've been through a lot, you've just recovered and I don't want this to be too stressful to you." He was sure Jill wouldn't agree with his plans and he even felt irresponsible for taking decisions without asking her. But he really wanted everything to be as light as possible for her. "I told everyone you're coming back on Friday. I want you to rest until then, to get used to the sunlight and to a life of a human being."

She couldn't believe it. Chris had lied to everyone in the BSAA. Even worse, he had lied to her. Couldn't he imagine how she felt? She just wanted to get back to fight bioterrorism again in order to make right what she had done under the enemy's control. She needed to distract herself from the immense void consuming her. Free time was definitely not giving her that kind of distraction. She wanted to start fixing everything, even if it was just doing paperwork.

The feeling of betrayal almost made her slap him for taking decisions without consulting her humble opinion. But the sad look on his face made her think twice. She saw that Chris was feeling guilty for what happened to her. She hated seeing him suffer like that and decided to swallow her pride and do what he asked for. After all, it would be only for a couple of days. Before the weekend she'd be wandering around the BSAA headquarters again, pretending nothing had ever happened to her.

"Thank you, Chris," she whispered.

Chris nodded and smiled again in relief. He'd expected a more violent reaction from her. The fact that her eyes had lost its usual shine worried him and he was desperately seeking the moment to have a chat with his old partner. There were still so many unasked questions that didn't let him find rest.

"There's something else," he said. "Unfortunately, I can't skip work these days." Jill looked at him completely scared. He wasn't leaving her alone, was he? Chris understood her gaze and completed his sentence quickly "So I decided to leave you with the only person in this whole world I trust more than myself to take care of you." He jumped out of the car. Before Jill could even wonder who that mysterious person was he had already opened the door on her side and was offering her his hand to help her get out. He took Jill's small suitcase from the backseat and led her through the garden, having a quick glance at the well-cared white roses before stepping to the front door and ringing the bell.

Jill was nervous. Who was she expecting to open that door? Someone Chris trusted more than himself? Could it be…? Her thoughts were interrupted by the ray of light that shone from the inside of the house right into their faces.

"Chris!" A young woman threw herself into Chris' arms. "I'm so glad to see you again."

Chris smiled and laid his arms around her, his eyes showing the most tender glow Jill had ever seen in him. That tiny detail showed Jill that her first impression had been correct. Chris turned his face to her.

"Jill, I'm happy to finally introduce you to each other." The woman let go of him and looked at Jill with a curious, warm look. "This is my little sister, Claire."

Claire surely knew about Jill's situation and her fear of closeness. Though giving her a huge and warm smile, she just reached out her hand instead of throwing her arms around her, like she had done with Chris.

"It's such a pleasure to finally meet you, Jill," she said. "Chris has told me so much about you I feel you already belong to our family. It is such a pity we didn't meet before."

Jill took Claire's hand and shook it. "Thank you Claire. It's a pleasure for me as well."

Chris watched them in delight. The two most important women in his life finally knew each other. Not having introduced Claire to Jill had been one of the things he had most regretted after Jill's little accident in the Spencer Estate. But life had granted him another chance to do things right and he was definitely taking it this time.

"But, please, don't stand there all night long. Come inside. Dinner's almost ready," Claire said.

Chris and Jill entered the lightful house. The most notorious space on the ground floor was a wide living room with big windows and very elegant white curtains. The walls were painted in different grey tones, which created a perfect contrast with the completely white furniture. Even the TV had a white framework. Chris looked around impressed. Everything was neat and clean, completely unlike Claire's usual lifestyle, though she wasn't half as messy as himself. The open kitchen was almost as big as the living room and only a counter separated the two zones. Also the kitchen had been built in grey and white, with expensive-looking cabinets.

"Make yourself comfortable," Claire yelled running into the kitchen. "The bedrooms are upstairs if you want to leave your suitcase there, Jill. And there is one bathroom on each floor. I think you can have a quick shower before dinner if you'd enjoy that. Anyone a cup of wine?"

Chris looked at Jill. She nodded. "I'd love a wine. I'll have that shower later."

Claire came back from the kitchen. "I hope you're hungry."

Chris nodded and Jill smiled lightly. "I'm starving, actually," she said.

"That's great. I've made a vegan lasagna, a salad with honey and warm goat cheese and tiny hamburgers," Claire smiled at Jill. "I wasn't sure if you'd have any problems with animal products so I just made different things for you. But if you don't want anything of that we can order something."

Jill didn't know what to say. She was simply amazed by that young woman she'd just met. Claire had obviously spent the whole day in the kitchen cooking for Chris and her. "I eat almost everything," she said head shaking. "But, don't ask me why, since the first incidents in the Arklay Mountains, I'm not able to eat boiled eggs."

Claire made a grimace of disgust. "Nobody likes boiled eggs." She laughed. "But I hope you like scrambled ones. That's what you'll get for breakfast. But for now I'll bring the wine." She winked and tried to turn back to the kitchen. Chris stopped her.

"So, you said this is the vacation house of a coworker of yours?" He asked challenging.

"Hmmm," Claire said nodding. "Yes, well… it's Neil's".

"Fisher." He rolled his eyes. Jill stared at him surprised. She didn't know who that Neil guy was, but Chris acted like he was some sort of reborn Albert Wesker.

"Oh, come on, Chris! Wipe away that disappointed look from your face. I paid for this house." Claire shouted while heading finally to the kitchen. "With money."

It was funny to see how Chris treated his sister, although Jill felt sorry for poor Claire. It surely wasn't easy to have such a protective big brother. Herself had always wished to have a brother who could care for her. But seeing how uncomfortable Claire was talking about men, she was happy nobody was demanding any explanations from her.

Chris needed to distract himself from imagining Fisher undressing his sister with his eyes and to find another point to focus on. He remembered that he hadn't asked Jill how she felt about staying with Claire. Maybe she wasn't comfortable in that house in the suburbs.

"Jill, listen," he said. "I know this is all going a little fast. But I'm sure Claire will entertain you perfectly these days. And I'll stay here the nights as well, okay?"

Jill smiled. The warm ambience that surrounded the Redfields was far enough to make her feel comfortable. And Chris' sister was so extremely nice and carefree that she already felt better. Claire came back to the living room holding a tray with three cups of wine on it.

"It has to be white wine," she explained rolling her eyes. "Neil would kill me if I ruined his five thousand dollar couch with a stain." She lifted her glass. "Cheers!"

Jill poured the wine down her throat in one single gulp. It was sweet, tasty, and slightly burning and it felt so good. Chris looked at her surprised. She blushed.

"I guess I was thirsty too."

"Would you prefer a cup of water or some orange juice?" Claire asked.

"No, thank you. The wine is excellent!"

* * *

 _Tuesday, 7pm_

Claire served dinner and the three sat together at the white dining table. One thing was clear, Neil Fisher had good taste in furniture. And if he was really as interested in Claire as Chris feared, he had good taste in women too. The younger Redfield was incredibly beautiful. She had the same deep gaze as Chris, but her hair was burning red, tied up to a ponytail. She was slightly shorter than Jill and probably not as trained as she was, but Claire seemed to know perfectly how to defend herself. Her expression showed cheerfulness, but concern about the constant threat the world was exposed to. Hearing Claire talk made Jill wish her brother could be a little more like her.

"This lasagna is delicious. I'm impressed by your abilities in the kitchen," Chris said. Claire smirked at him, already knowing what she was about to hear. "I guess you've been secretly dating a cook."

"Why should she keep a cook-boyfriend a secret?" Jill asked curiously.

"Yes, Chris." Claire grinned mischievously. "Why should I keep a cook-boyfriend a secret?"

Chris thought a second, then smiled and said, "Well, maybe because he's fat and ugly." He took a sip of wine.

"Oh Chris," Claire said. "Who cares if he's ugly if the sex is amazing."

Chris spitted out the wine and got a heavy cough attack, while Claire was giving him the biggest and most sarcastic grin Jill had ever seen. She couldn't help but laugh out loud, which immediately caused the siblings to stop their small fight and glance at her.

Bringing Jill to Claire's place had been a great idea. Of course he knew that the typical argument he used to have with his sister about her boyfriends could seem funny to others, but he was also aware of the positive effect the redhead's warm character combined with her sharp tongue were having on Jill. Chris couldn't have felt happier that moment.

Jill laughed until tears ran down her cheeks. When she went to the bathroom to wash her face, Chris' eyes followed her delicate moves.

"I like her," Claire confessed smiling, cupping her chin in her hands. "I'm just wondering when you're gonna tell her that you like her too."

"Claire, please. She's just come back from a very traumatic experience and months of tests and rehabilitation. Besides, we're just friends and partners."

The water stopped. Jill was about to come out. Claire decided to give quick sisterly advice.

"Yeah Chris, just partners. But you know what?" She looked at him seriously. "Not everybody gets a second chance."

Chris stared at her thoughtfully. Jill came out of the bathroom and got back to the table. Her face was slightly swollen, but she was smiling. She took a big gulp of wine.

"You shouldn't drink that much," Chris advised.

"Oh, please. She's not on duty," Claire complained and filled Jill's glass gain. "If you feel so, you can drink as much as you want. You already know this house has two bathrooms so we can both throw up at once, and then recover from our hangover on that huge couch over there."

"Claire!" Chris yelled angrily. Suddenly his cellphone rang. "I have to get this, but we're not done here yet." He pointed at the women before answering the call. "Redfield speaking." He went to the kitchen to hear better.

"You know, I never used to drink much. But it has been many years since I last had a cup of wine, and…" Jill tried to explain. Claire just smiled at her.

"You don't need to justify anything to me, neither to Chris. I know he's happy you're somehow getting back to a normal life, whatever _normal_ means for people like us."

"I feel guilty for taking away a small piece of normality from you. You're sacrificing your vacation to stay with me."

"Jill, please. Don't say such a thing." Claire gave her a worried look. "I've always wanted to meet you. Besides, you sacrificed far more when you saved my brother from being killed."

Jill looked at her. "He told you?"

"Of course he did! That changed his life completely. But we'll talk about that tomorrow when he's gone." Claire winked. Chris came back from the kitchen, throwing his phone angrily onto the table.

"I'm sorry, but I have to leave," he said, leaning his hands on the backrest of his chair. "It looks like something is wrong with the preparation for the mission some of my men are going on tomorrow."

"And you're the only one who can fix that? You've miseducated them, brother."

"Probably. But you know, I'm their captain. I should actually go on that mission myself." Chris laughed, but then gave Jill a doubtful look, like asking her for permission.

Jill smiled and nodded. Of course she felt a little disappointed, but she also wanted to know what Claire had to tell her in private.

Chris went to the door followed by Claire. Before leaving, he turned around to place a soft kiss on his sister's cheek. He used the short distance between them to warn her about Jill's situation again.

"Please, don't push her."

Claire rolled her eyes. "I'll take good care of her, I promise."

Jill had stayed at the table, but since the house was a wide, open space, she could see the Redfields saying goodbye to each other. She remembered how Chris used to kiss her goodbye on the cheek as well. Everything was different between them before the Spencer Estate. Now, she couldn't let him do that anymore. He seemed to feel that barrier and respected it.

Claire came back with a tub of Ben & Jerry's Salted Caramel Core Ice-Cream and two spoons.

"Ready for dessert?"

* * *

 **Hello everybody!**

This is the first chapter of _Hands and Tools_. I know the title sucks. And when you find out the reason why I called it like that in Chapter 3, you're gonna hate it anyway. But it needed a title. _Untitled_ was just too easy.

This is how I figured Claire and Jill could finally meet. The ladies are the main characters in this adventure. Chris is just a secondary someone...

I have already written several chapters, so I'm gonna update this regurlarly.

I really hope you enjoy it. If you like it or if you hate it so much that you just want to let me know, please review. I'd be happy to know what you think about it.

And, of course, thank you for reading.


	2. II - Old barrier

**_Resident Evil belongs to Capcom. I just use their characters to entertain myself and others._**

* * *

 **-II-**

 **Old barrier**

 _Tuesday, 9pm_

Jill didn't really understand what that special thing about Claire was that made her feel so incredibly comfortable by her side. After finishing the whole tub of ice-cream together they sat on the couch to chat and have more wine. Claire told her about her work at TerraSave, about the fat cook-boyfriend she hadn't yet spotted in her life but would love to, and about Neil Fisher.

"I don't know why, but Chris never liked him, even before knowing that we actually went out," Claire complained laughing. "He just doesn't let me live my own life."

"He just wants to protect you," Jill said before taking another sip. "So, you and that Neil are actually dating?"

"What? Oh my God, no. We just went out once. After months of pressing me he got me to have dinner with him, but it wasn't a very pleasant evening. I didn't sleep with him that night so he is still trying to convince me." Claire shook her head and smiled regretfully. "I've told him several times to stop it. And I'd love to kick his ass for not respecting that. But he's still my boss."

Jill was surprised but smiled at the situation.

"So Chris was right about Fisher," she said. "That must be his famous sixth sense."

"Sixth sense?" Claire asked stunned. "My brother?"

Jill nodded laughing. "Didn't he tell you? Back at S.T.A.R.S., although respecting and admiring Wesker deeply, Chris sometimes told me that if anyone ever tried to destroy the world it would have to be our captain. Of course there was never any reason to suspect such a thing and it was a mere joke, but in the end, he was right." Remembering that, Jill couldn't help but grin. "And we once had a cute little secretary who always brought sweets and cakes for the handsome guys in the team. Chris always treated her kindly, but would never accept any of her gifts. Not even he knew exactly why, but I think he was kind of happy about it when all guys got intoxicated by her buttercream."

Claire giggled surprised. "So, Chris is one of the handsome guys, hu?"

"I understand that you don't see it like that, but I think many ladies would like to have a man like your brother by their side." Jill smiled and took a sip of her wine.

"You too?"

Jill stared at Claire. She felt caught for a moment, but then she remembered that, if she had ever felt something for her partner, it was gone for good now.

"Me? I'm not a lady, Claire." Both laughed. "To be honest, I had a crush on your brother when I first met him at S.T.A.R.S. I should've asked him out back then, when everything was easier and we had quite a normal life. But Umbrella happened to us. We became partners on our way through hell and there was no time or space for anything else than this partnership. However, Chris is still the person I most trust in the world."

Claire felt disappointed by what she heard. Umbrella happened to them? Nothing more than cheap excuses. Jill and her brother were meant to be together. And if Jill needed to be fixed before that could happen, she'd fix her.

"And the one you most care of?" She asked. Jill doubted a second, but nodded then.

"Along with my father, maybe," she said.

"That's exactly how Chris feels about you," Claire said excited. "Hasn't he told you how devastated he was after your _death_?" Claire made air quote signs when pronouncing the last word.

"No, we haven't spoken about that," Jill said sadly.

"So what have you spoken about exactly? The weather maybe?" Claire joked. "I remember the night he called me to tell me what happened. He sounded so… broken."

"I can imagine how I'd have felt in his situation," Jill whispered.

"The BSAA was looking for your body for months, Chris was with them. As you already know, they didn't find anything. So you were declared dead."

"Yes, Chris mentioned that."

"Oh, thank God! There is something he told you!" Claire laughed sarcastically and clapped her hands.

The blonde gave her a shy smirk.

"Chris never really got over the fact that they didn't find your body," Claire continued. "It was like some part of him didn't want to let you go. I even sometimes caught him talking about you as if you'd been still there. He didn't even see your grave after that one time at your funeral."

Jill suddenly felt incredibly guilty. She'd thought she was saving Chris' life by tackling Wesker out of the window. Now she knew that she had probably caused him the worst pain he'd ever felt.

She grabbed a pillow and hugged it tightly.

"Jill, are you okay?" Claire was worried. Maybe she had gone too far by telling Jill the whole story. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

Jill felt cold and shivered. She suddenly felt an aching knot in her throat and her view got blurred. She needed someone to hold her and lift her up, and though she had just met her, the person in front of her seemed just perfect for it.

"Claire, please, would you mind holding my hand for a while?"

Claire did as she'd been asked. Jill buried her face in the pillow and began to cry desperately, cushioning the sound with the textile.

All the images came back to her, from the events in the Spencer Estate to those in Africa. The killing, the infecting, Chris' look when Wesker uncovered her face in the ruins. So many pain caused by her. Why hadn't she been strong enough to avoid all that? She remembered the stabbing gaze in the eyes of the first victim she infected. Everything she'd fought for all her life, destroyed in a matter of seconds.

Claire couldn't say anything. She wasn't sure if what she was witnessing was good or not. She just held Jill's hand for over half an hour. She heard her sobbing, screaming, mumbling something. Then, the blond woman suddenly stopped crying and lifted her head slowly. Her eyes were empty.

"I wish I'd died back then."

Claire couldn't believe what she heard. The conversation she had with Chris when he'd called her from Africa several months ago came to her mind.

" _Chris, what's up? Have you arrested that Mr. Irving yet?"_

" _Claire, I've found her."_

 _She swallowed. "Her? You won't happen to mean…"_

" _Jill. She's alive."_

 _Claire didn't really notice how the tears made their way down her face when she heard th.e news_

" _Chris, I can't believe this is really happening. Is she okay?"_

" _It's a long story. But knowing her, she'll be fine someday."_

" _I'm so happy for you."_

" _Me too. Thank you for your support, sis."_

 _Sis._ He hadn't called her that for three years. Losing his partner had changed him completely, up to the point that he wasn't able to treat his friends like friends anymore. Seeing her brother suffer and not being able to do anything about it had driven Claire crazy. That's why she had felt an immense happiness invading her body the day he'd told her that Jill was alive. And now that same woman was saying she regretted having survived. Of course she understood that Jill didn't mean that she was tired of living, but that she wished she could make undone every one of her actions after that day: getting experimented on, being used as a tool for evil, making Chris suffer… But she also knew that Chris without Jill was only a shadow of what he used to be.

"Jill," she said. "Look at me."

The blonde raised her gaze until looking right into the eyes of her new friend.

"I understand this is tough. But there's no need to wish such a thing. I know you'll recover completely and Chris knows that too. And when your time has come, you'll fight bioterrorism again and kick lots of asses. And, even if you feel different now, it will have been worth it."

Jill listened carefully to Claire, but she didn't quite believe that she'd ever be able to feel better. She had failed everyone and nothing could make that right. Tears rushed into her eyes again. When she lowered her head to hide them from Claire, she saw that the redhead was still holding her hand.

"Believe me, you may tremble sometimes. But nothing can ever break you." Claire smiled at her new friend. "It will never be easy for anyone of us. But I know that what you survived is not something anyone can make. So who if not you can fight the evil that is still out there?" She pointed at a random direction. "Jill, you survived because you still have to save many people."

Jill thought about her will to get back to work as soon as possible after rehab. It was actually a ridiculous idea. Her fear of any physical contact and her sudden clumsiness with firearms made that she couldn't even begin training.

"How am I gonna do that if I can't even hold a weapon?" Jill whispered.

"It may take you some time," Claire lowered her voice. "But I know you'll get back to who you once were. You still have that spark in you. I see it. Chris sees it. So it must be still there."

'Chris.' His name made Jill shiver. Wouldn't he be a better man and a better agent without her?

"Your brother means a lot to me. He's my partner and my best friend and I caused him so much pain."

Claire shook her head and regretted deeply having mentioned anything about this topic. She thought how she could get her brother's partner out the hole she had made her fall into.

"Jill," she whispered. "What did you feel before tackling Wesker out of the window?"

Jill looked at her.

"I felt…" she doubted. "Fear! I was afraid of losing Chris."

"Good. Now, how would you've felt if Wesker had killed him?"

"There wouldn't have been much time to feel anything. He would have killed me right after him."

"Just answer!"

"Okay, okay. If Chris had died, I guess I'd have wanted to die as well." Jill suddenly understood what Claire wanted to say. The redhead nodded.

"That's what he felt when you disappeared," she smiled at Jill. "Now listen to me very well. If there's one thing that kept him alive all this time and didn't let his guilt consume him, it was the hope of finding you someday. I don't even want to imagine what would have happened if you'd really died."

When she heard those words, Jill's eyes filled with tears again. She understood that the joy of finding her could have made Chris forget all the pain he had suffered before. Claire continued speaking.

"You saved his life twice that day! And together you can save a lot of people."

Though Jill was still mad at herself, she forced a smile. Claire's words had calmed her down and made her see things from a different point of view.

Claire was crying. Her brother's death was something she didn't even want to imagine. She wiped away her tears.

"I think we need a foursome with two guys now."

"We what?" Jill asked laughing. She was pretty worried about the ideas Claire could have. Maybe Chris' fear of finding his sister naked on some complete stranger's motorbike was justified.

"What I just said. You, me, and Ben & Jerry," she finally let go of Jill's hand, jumped off the couch and sprinted to the kitchen. Jill sighed relieved.

"More ice-cream? How much weight do you want me to gain until Friday?" She yelled loud enough so the younger woman could hear her from the kitchen.

"As much as possible." The redhead came back holding another tub of Brownie ice-cream. "But we should probably have it at the dining table."

"Will you spend all your vacation worrying about stains?"

"Sure, you'd rather worry about zombies, wouldn't you?" Both laughed.

* * *

 **Hello everybody.**

First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who is actually reading this. Please, if you like it or if you consider it's so horrible you'd wish to rip your eyes out, let me know :D Any type of review will surely help me improve.

And special thanks to **Thebigticket21** , for reviewing.

This chapter is a little boring, yes. But Jill needs this time with Claire so they can build up a special bond. Chapter 3 brings some action, I promise. Also, Chris is showing up again ;)


	3. III - Memories that never were

**I don't own Resident Evil. I really don't.**

* * *

 **-III-**

 **Memories that never were**

 _Wednesday, 11.a.m._

The sun shone through the windows right into Jill's face and woke her up. She felt her head ache terribly and her mouth was pasty. She tried to lick her lips with her dry tongue before looking around. Apparently she had fallen asleep on the couch. On the living room table she still found the glasses and the two bottles she had emptied with Claire the night before. But she didn't quite notice that she was alone in the room until she heard her friend swear in the kitchen. She got up slowly. Her head felt twice its normal size and she could hardly walk. With some effort, she dragged herself to the kitchen and leaned on the counter.

Claire looked as if she didn't feel any better than Jill. But even so, when she saw her friend's face she gave her a huge smile and handed her a glass of something that looked like tomato juice.

"Good morning!" She laughed. "Here, taste this. It's my special anti-hangover drink. Full of vitamins."

Jill took the glass. The red, almost creamy content tasted quite familiar.

"Claire," she asked "is this a Bloody Mary?"

The redhead nodded smiling.

"I think it's not good if the alcohol level in blood sinks too fast. With a tasty Bloody Mary you keep ingesting a little, while you recover forces thanks to the tomato juice."

"Sounds almost logical to me." Jill laughed. "Tell me, what about those scrambled eggs you promised yesterday?"

"I was just opening an egg when the rest of the dozen fell on the floor," she grumbled.

Jill leaned over the bar to see the disaster from a better angle.

"I guess we'll have something different for breakfast," she said and touched the tip of her nose with her index finger as she thought about the possibilities.

"I think the only option is to order pizza," Claire said suddenly. Both laughed.

"Or we can have the bacon alone," suggested Jill "I'm sure dipped in the Bloody Mary it's delicious."

"I think there's still some lasagna left," Claire remembered. "We can dip that as well."

"No lasagna, Claire. We ate the leftovers last night."

Yes, she was starving. But Jill was having a lot of fun joking with Claire. She suddenly noticed that they were still alone.

"Hasn't Chris come back yet?"

"I thought you'd never ask," Claire gave her an ironic smile. "No, he hasn't. But I'm sure if he's not come yet, it's because he is really busy."

Jill didn't doubt that. But she was sorry that Chris had so much work to do. She should have gone back to the BSAA to help him. Suddenly the doorbell rang.

"Oh, that must be him," exclaimed Claire. Jill had already jumped to the door.

"I'll get that," she smiled. She had a quick look through the peephole before opening happily.

"Hey, good morning!" She smiled trying not to make her hangover too obvious.

Chris didn't believe his eyes. What he was seeing in Jill's smiling face was pure joy. And damn, she was so beautiful with her messy hair and that dark bags under her eyes. When he entered the hall he noticed instantly that both Jill and Claire were still wearing the same clothes as the day before and assumed they had fallen asleep watching TV.

"Hi," he said.

"Morning, bro," Claire said, "We were just about to order pizza."

"Excuse me?" He complained smiling "Haven't I taught you that whenever and wherever you are you must have eggs and bacon for breakfast? I totally failed at your education young lady." They laughed.

"I dropped them. I'm sorry," she excused.

"There are some in Jill's suitcase," he said.

"What?" The women looked at each other, then at him.

"I forgot to tell you. I always think that there can't be enough eggs in a household, so I brought some and put them into her luggage."

"Well, that's good news," Claire said heading upstairs where Jill had left her stuff the day before.

Chris and Jill looked at each other and smiled.

"You look amazing," he said.

"You liar! I look awful," she complained, desperately trying to comb her hair with her fingers.

"You look tired, but amazing." He smiled at her. "Has Claire already made you her Bloody Mary?" Claire was coming down and heard the last sentence.

"She loved it!" She said. "Jill thinks it is a good idea, too."

"I haven't said that," the blonde said. "But it's actually quite good."

Claire grinned and slipped into the kitchen.

"You want some, Chris?"

"I'd prefer coffee, eggs and bacon, thanks," he said smiling while he took a seat on one of the stools next to the kitchen counter.

Jill saw him yawn widely. He looked tired as well. Not only tired of staying up all night, but of carrying the huge responsibility of fighting evil over and over again. The small wrinkles around his eyes reminded her that, even for them, time didn't stop. Chris was just thirty-six years old (or was he thirty-seven?), but it seemed like a hundred years had gone by since their past at S.T.A.R.S. She remembered how young they both were when they had met. How easy and fine everything seemed before the incident in the Arklay Mountains. She often imagined how their life would be like if she'd actually told him how much she liked him. What if they had never seen themselves involved in all this? Would they be still close? Or would they even have become a couple? The sheer thought made her smile. She suddenly remembered Rebecca Chambers, who left Raccoon City right after the mansion incident to find a man she'd known and fallen in love with while escaping from an Umbrella Research Center close to the Mansion, the prisoner Billy Coen. Was it really that easy to fall in love with someone you live a traumatic experience with?

Chris noticed her lost look.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "I'm just wondering where Rebecca might be right now."

"I never heard anything about her again," Chris said. "I guess that means she's either dead or happy with that guy."

"You know about that?" Jill asked surprised. She had caught the Rebecca right before running away, and had always assumed to be the only one who knew about the girl's plans.

"It was kind of obvious." He smirked. "She went completely red and smiled like an idiot as she told me about that murderer who had apparently died in the woods. So I assumed she wasn't telling me the whole truth about Coen. I guessed she'd run off with him after the Mansion incident."

"Not exactly," Jill added. "They had actually split up before Rebecca entered the mansion. But after witnessing what happened to Richard and how Wesker betrayed us, she decided to seize the moment and went to find him."

"I didn't know that. I always thought he had been waiting for her," Chris said thoughtfully. "It's kind of romantic, isn't it?"

"Well, either with or without him, if she ran off, it's just because SHE didn't have an older brother who could stop her." Claire remarked as she put a plate with deliciously looking scrambled eggs, bacon and a slice of toast on the counter in front of her brother.

Chris gave her a warm, thankful look. "Claire," he whispered, "if you ever want to run off with the man you love, and he's a good man who won't hurt you, you have my blessings."

Claire laughed. "Are you sick? Come on, eat something."

Chris grinned at her.

"Of course, Neil Fisher is not to be considered a good man," he said with a childish smile on his face.

Jill stared at them. She knew that kind of issues had always been a problem for their relationship. But deep inside both knew that Chris was hoping Claire would find a good man someday, get married and have a lot of little Redfields. But what was he wishing for himself?

"Don't worry. I will find the best brother-in-law for you. But I have to test the candidates carefully." She winked smiling.

"Very funny," Chris said with a sceptic look before turning his attention to his plate again. "This is what I call breakfast. These eggs are delicious, Claire."

"I'll make some more for Jill and myself," Claire said and opened two more eggs.

* * *

"You should rest now, Chris," Claire said while removing the dishes. The elder Redfield was rubbing his eyes.

"I guess you're right. I'll go home and sleep a little. I have to get back to work this afternoon."

"You can sleep here if you want," Claire offered. "I checked all the sheets for suspicious stains with a blacklight. They're clean!"

Chris smiled showing a faked expression of relief. "Thank you, but I'll need a shower and a clean shirt too, and I don't want to have to wear that guy's clothes at the BSAA."

"Is there so much work to do? Do you need any help?" Jill asked concernedly.

"You take your time, Jill. Relax and get used to freedom," he said smiling. "I'll be okay." He took her hand and squeezed it gently before taking his keys, kissing Claire on the cheek and leaving. Jill watched his moves with tenderness.

"He'll be okay," Claire pointed out seeing Jill's look. "He's made of steel, iron and highly concentrated stubbornness." She giggled.

"He's the best man I've ever known," Jill whispered.

"You should tell him that someday."

The straw-haired shook her head.

"I don't need to. He already knows that," she said smiling.

Claire stared confused at her new friend. She'd probably never understand their strange relationship.

"However," she said. "What do you want to do today? We could go to the gym, or shopping, or…"

"The graveyard," Jill interrupted. "Last night you said something about my grave. Do you know where it is?"

Claire looked at her surprised.

"You want to see your grave?"

"Yes." She nodded decidedly.

"Chris wouldn't be okay with that," Claire said, "but I understand your wish. I'll take you there, but first we should have a shower. You get into the one on this floor, there are clean towels on the holder."

"Thank you Claire," Jill said quietly. Her friend nodded at her and headed upstairs. "By the way, you won't happen to have checked the bathroom for cameras as well?"

* * *

After getting dressed the two women took Claire's car to drive to the graveyard. In this small space of the car, Jill noticed more details both Redfield siblings shared. Claire used the same air freshener as her brother and also her backseat was full of papers. She remembered how Chris had once confessed that it was where he left the undone paperwork. Also the redhead's driving style was very similar to her brother's. A little too aggressive for Jill's taste.

"Goddamn, I don't have all day!" Claire honked several times when the blue Ford didn't move immediately after the traffic light turned green. Jill only shook her head in certain disapproval. Claire looked at her.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bother you," she apologized. "I just can't stand people who make me waste my time."

"It's okay," Jill laughed. "I guess I don't see this kind of actions like a waste of time anymore."

Claire got aware of how her words may have reminded Jill of the years she lost.

"I'm sorry, Jill," she mumbled. "I wasn't thinking."

"Claire, don't apologize," the blonde said smiling. "You are taking great care of me and I don't want you to act differently in any way."

"Jill, can I ask you something?" Claire asked shyly.

"Ask. I'll just refuse to answer if it's something I don't want to tell you."

"Chris told me you are afraid of any… physical contact…"

"Do you want to know if I've been raped?" Jill said coldly.

Claire shivered.

"No. Actually… Well, if you need to talk about anything, please know that you can always count on me. I'm your friend now," she said. "But what I really want to ask is… Why does this not affect your hands?"

Jill knew immediately what Claire meant. She could shake and even hold hands with anybody, but didn't want that the contact went beyond the wrist in any way. She looked down at her hands.

"I've always seen them as tools, not as a part of my body," she explained. "They are part of my work equipment. They've shot B.O.W.s, opened doors and pushed buttons. Why shouldn't anyone touch a tool?"

Claire forced a smile. She didn't quite agree with her friend. Hands were an extension of the whole body, something to feel with, to offer comfort, to touch and caress someone. Her hands would always hold her warm, feed her, clean her skin and comb her hair. No, she didn't quite understand how Jill could see her hands just as tools. She remembered that she'd once had a similar discussion with Chris, though. They were very similar to each other.

"I see."

* * *

 _Wednesday, 1 p.m._

Claire parked her car right in front of the graveyard.

"Let's see if I find it," she said. "Like Chris, I haven't been here since your funeral."

"You came to my funeral?" asked Jill obviously moved.

"Of course, you were…," she paused, "you ARE important to my brother, so you are important to me." She walked next to Jill. "By the way, don't expect a big, beautiful tombstone with angels on it."

"Oh, trust me, I don't," Jill laughed.

They entered the part of the graveyard the BSAA had reserved for agents who'd died during their missions. It was actually a quite sterile place. All graves had similar greyish tombstones. Someone was taking care of them, but it was obvious that it was only done because it was their job.

They found Jill's grave in the second row. Her empty coffin was buried next to a guy called Richter. Jill stopped in front of the tombstone with her name on it.

"I knew it wouldn't be an overblown stone. But I expected a little more. Not even a note like 'Brave agent who died for peace'," she said disappointed making a grimace and turned around. Claire was standing two steps behind her. "And Chris didn't say anything about that?"

"Chris didn't agree with this theatre," the younger woman said laughing. "As I told you, he had convinced himself you were still alive."

"Why did he come to my funeral, then?"

Claire shrugged her shoulders. She was about to say something when she heard her cell phone ring. She looked at the screen and immediately lifted a finger asking Jill to wait a second.

"It's work," she said and turned away to get the call. "Redfield speaking."

Jill smiled. It was funny how both Redfields answered their phone the same way. She suddenly had a look at Richter's grave and read the inscription. Skye Richter had died in 2007 at the age of thirty-nine or forty. Although it had to be more about three years old, the tombstone looked brand new and it had a beautiful ornament on it. The inscription said 'Beloved husband and father, dedicated soldier. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed'. This last sentence made Jill shiver. It seemed to be a verse of the bible, but the foot of the inscription had been scratched over and was not readable any more. She wondered if someone had chosen that passage because Richter had been infected.

Someone had placed fresh daisies on his grave, and comparing his tombstone to her own made her feel a little unloved. But then she remembered that, unlike her, he'd probably never get the chance to see the top of his grave. A sensation of power overcame her. She smiled to herself.

"I understand. Has Neil Fisher been informed about this already?" Claire asked with a concerned tone in her voice. "He's what?!"

Jill turned around and stared at her friend. Something seemed to be wrong.

"I'll be there in an hour. Keep trying to find Neil," she commanded into the phone before hanging up. "I'm sorry Jill. I need to get to the office. There's a communication problem with our team in a camp in Colombia, and Neil is missing."

"Missing?" she asked. "That doesn't sound good."

"Not at all," she said. "I'll take you to Chris' apartment and pick you up later when everything is solved."

"I wouldn't like to bother him while he's sleeping. Can't I just come with you?" Jill asked innocently.

Claire doubted a moment.

"Chris wants you to rest. He'll kill me if he finds out that I take you with me to TerraSave."

"As if TerraSave was a battlefield," the blonde laughed and headed to the car. "Come on, don't waste any more time. We have to find your boss."

* * *

 **Sorry, I forgot to say some words.**

 **Now you know why this fic is called Hands and Tools... And it still sucks, I know u.u**

 **Anyway, thank you for reading this. I hope you're enjoying it. If you like it, let me know. If not, let me know anyway. I'd appreciate reviews.**

 **Have a nice week.**

 **Especially Thebigticket21 who always leaves a review. Thank you so much :D You always make my day!**


	4. IV - Verses and other encounters

**To those who think I own Resident Evil: No, I don't xD**

* * *

 **-IV-**

 **Verses and other encounters**

 _Wednesday, 2:00 p.m._

As soon as the doors slid open, the two women stepped out of the elevator onto the bright, shiny marble tiles that covered the floor of TerraSave's whole headquarter. Every employee they met on their way to the office greeted Claire nicely. Jill wasn't surprised how much they admired and respected the redhead. Her new friend was a warm-hearted, open-minded and strong young woman, always ready for jokes and laughters, but serious and responsible when it came to save lives. Claire headed to the reception desk, where a young, blond woman in a beige suit typed eagerly on a computer.

"Good morning, Lindsay. Anything new?"

"Nothing, Miss Redfield. The communication is still shut and I haven't been able to reach Mister Fisher either," the young woman said fearfully.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of Colombia. If you don't mind, I'll have a look at Neil's office later. Maybe he left a note."

"I've been there this morning and haven't seen anything unusual. But, of course, go ahead." Lindsay smiled relived. Lucky Claire was there to take action.

The operations office was empty. The colleagues Claire shared her workplace with had left to attend a conference, so Claire could work without any interruptions.

"Have a seat, please. It won't take long. I'm sure it's just just a technical problem. It's always a technical problem." Claire smiled. "They build survivor camps in the middle of nowhere and wonder why we lose contact every two weeks. Not even US technology is able to build up a stable connection on an abandoned island."

"Oh! What a great idea!" Jill laughed sarcastically.

"Governmental stuff," Claire smiled at her while dialing a number. " _Sí, habitación dos, cero, tres, por favor. Señor Chavez. Señorita Redfield. Gracias_." She waited to be connected. "Gabe, it's Claire, everything okay down there? We can't reach you... Yes, of course we are worried. There is still a risk of… If you knew it why didn't you report? Hmm, I see... Yeah, I'll send you help...Yes, I'm still on vacation… Because he's missing… Don't worry. I'm sure he's just gone to an important meeting and has left his cell phone home… Yes, sure. I'll keep you updated… It's okay, don't worry. Shit happens… Take care… Bye."

"Seems like everything's fine," Jill guessed.

"Almost, I have to organize some reinforcement to help them fix their technical problem. Seems to be a huge one this time. It has been caused by an accident," Claire said. "But it's actually nothing. Since the last time communication broke down because some scoundrel stole material, we always leave one of our men in a hotel in the nearest town. In this case it's Gabriel Chavez. He'd been checking things in the camp when the accident took place and it took him a while to get back to town and report from there."

"Chavez, Fisher…" Jill whispered. "Oh, now I know why Neil's name sounded so familiar. They were part of the rescue team TerraSave sent to Kijuju after Chris' last mission there, weren't they?"

"Yes," Claire nodded. "They got back just a couple of months ago. The camp is working fine, and as long as there's no other outbreak, they can take care of themselves. Of course we still send material help, though."

"And what happened in Colombia?" Jill asked.

"Nothing actually. They found samples of the T-Virus in a container on a leaking ship before the coast. "

"Has the BSAA been informed about that?" Jill asked alarmed.

"Yes, of course the BSAA has been informed," Claire smiled nervously. She recognized the usual BSAA fear of any type of outbreak in Jill's voice, which also characterized Chris' way of speaking. Claire was deliciously amused about it. "Their conclusion was that the container got on board by accident and nothing contradicts this theory. The ship had been abandoned and declared disappeared years ago."

"I see. So there isn't any real risk, is there? I guess TerraSave is building the camp to prevent."

"Yes. It would be more helpful if it was placed on mainland though, but the local authorities don't want to cause any panic, so the camp is actually a secret." Claire shook her head. "It's difficult when they don't cooperate with our work."

"Claire! You're here!" A young woman with short, dark hair, bright eyes and very casual clothes entered the office and dragged herself to Claire. "I've been told you were on vacation."

"Moira, what a surprise." Claire hugged the young lady . "I'm actually just here because of an emergency. Are they running your tests today?"

"Yes, I've already done the psychological part." She handed Claire the envelope. "I was just heading to the gym to do the physical tests when I've seen you in here."

Claire had a quick look at the report. It's content made her lift her eyebrows in surprise.

"Moira, your results are incredible. Even better than mine when I got here. You'll make a great TerraSave member." She slid the papers back into the envelope and smiled at her friend. "I'll leave your report on Neils' desk if you want."

Moira blushed and nodded. Coming from Claire, those words meant even more to the young woman. She finally turned her head to Jill, not having noticed her presence before.

"Oh, Moira, I haven't introduced you to…"

"Jill Valentine!" Moira jumped towards the blonde and shook her hand violently. "It's such an honor to meet you."

Jill smiled nervously.

"You must be Moira Burton. You know, we actually met already. That was many years ago when I worked with your father at S.T.A.R.S.. One day you came with him to the Police Department. You were like… this," she said as she held her hand about four feet over the floor.

"Yeah, I see Barry was already quite irresponsible back then. A little girl isn't supposed to just visit a police station" Moira forced a smile.

Jill, surprised by Moira's reaction, gave Claire a questioning gaze. The activist just shook her head, eye rolling. She'd explain later.

"Well," Moira had a look at her watch. "I need to go now. But it has been a pleasure. See you Claire, I'll call you later." She left the office. Claire turned around and looked at Jill.

"Any parental problems?" Jill asked.

Claire grinned.

"It would actually be a funny story if it hadn't had such tragic consequences for their relationship," Claire said. "Moira once shot her little sister with Barry's gun. Don't you remember that?"

Jill shook her head in surprise. She did remember that one of Barry's daughter's had been hospitalized once because of an accident, but she'd never known it had been that kind of accident.

"Oh my God, poor Moira. But, her sister survived, right?" Jill would have definitely remembered if Barry had lost one of his girls.

"Yes, Polly's fine." Claire said. "But Barry got so nervous when it happened that he couldn't handle the situation and shouted at Moira, blaming her. It's something he's never forgiven himself, and neither has she."

"How sad." The heartbreaking story about Barry and his daughters made Jill think. She couldn't imagine hurting someone she loved. Even under Wesker's control she had been able to stop herself from shooting Chris back in Kijuju.

"Come on." Claire headed out of the office. "Let's see if we find anything on Neil's desk."

* * *

The curtains were half closed. The few small rays that shone into the office bathed the room in an almost romantic light. A slight smell of male perfume filled the air, being identified by Claire as Neil's favorite fragrance. She stepped to the mahogany desk and had a quick look over the clean surface. No note. She started moving some stacked papers aside and even opened the drawer of his desk without finding anything useful. She bit her lip.

"Nothing here," she said finally throwing the envelope with Moira's results onto the surface.

"Claire!" Jill had been looking around the floor for some clues. "Take a look at this!"

She had found a small, yellowish paper. Claire got close and looked at the message on it.

"'Meet me where heaven's judge finds peace'," she read. "What the fuck does that mean?"

Jill looked at her seriously.

"I think I know." She got so excited her heart beat shot close to tachycardia. Searching for clues and solving riddles reminded her of the first adventure back at the Spencer Mansion. What been probably the creepiest night of her life, had turned into an almost lovely memory over the years. Claire requested an explanation.

"It's actually a coincidence." Jill laughed. "Tell me Claire. Where do people find peace?"

The nerves made Claire's blood boil. She definitely wasn't in the mood for riddles.

"In the church? At home in their bed? In a library?" The words lost all of their sense due to the anxiety her voice reflected.

"On the graveyard!" Jill exclaimed. "I think this message points to someone's grave. And the best is that I know whose tomb it refers to."

"Are you sure?" Claire feared they were losing precious time in their search for Neil. The freaking ideas Jill had come up with were far too imaginative to be actually a real hint to follow.

"I am. Heaven's judge refers to Skye Richter."

"Was that the guy in the grave next to yours?" Claire frowned. That actually made sense."Yes, _Richter_ is German for _judge_." Claire put a finger on her chin, as if it allowed her to think better.

"And _sky_ could be another word for _heaven_ ," Jill said completing her thought.

"This is crazy." Claire shook her head in disbelief. "Do you think Neil left this message?"

"That's what I wanted to ask you. He's your boss, not mine."

"It's definitely not his handwriting." Claire checked the piece of paper again to make sure she wasn't missing anything.

"That mneans he's the one who has been summoned. Claire, Neil might be in serious trouble."

"Then, what are we waiting for? Let's hurry to the graveyard."

"Wait a minute. Can you help me look up a certain verse in the bible?" Jill asked.

Claire frowned.

"TerraSave sends psychologists to help the survivors deal with their experiences, not priests. I'm sure we don't even have bibles here." Her jittery laughter echoed through the room. "We better check it on the Internet. Let's get back to _Operations_."

* * *

Jill quickly connected to the web to google the sentence she'd read on Richter's tombstone earlier that day.

"This is amazing," she said. "I know I shouldn't be that surprised, since they experimented on me with high-tech equipment, but it's nothing compared to how fast the search engines evolve."

Claire smiled at the comparison.

"Do you find what you need?" She asked concerned, wondering if Jill wasn't aware of the time they were wasting. The blonde had a concentrated look on her face.

"Not yet… I can't remember the exact sentence… It was something like…" She started typing again. "'Behold, We don't sleep, we change' and I'll add the word 'bible'." Several thousands of results appeared in the search engine. "There it is! Yes, that was it: 'Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.'," She read." It's from Corinthians 15:51."

"Corinthians?" Claire's ponytail flung over her shoulder as she turned around. "This is a clue."

"I was expecting it was, but what does it mean?" Jill asked in concern.

Claire got up and walked over to a heavily loaded shelf. She took a folder out of it and slid it over the desk.

When Jill opened it, the first thing she found was an extract from a local newspaper. The piece of news talked about an old coal mine which the mayor wanted to reopen. Plans which had been frustrated by the pressure activists had been making. The paper was from 2005 and the name of the mine was…

"Corinthians!" That was definitely not just a coincidence.

"I gathered a lot of information about this case because my paranoid mind thought someone wanted the mine as headquarters for experiments."

"So, you think Neil is there?"

Claire nodded as she picked up the phone and dialed a short extension number. "Lindsay, Redfield here. I need you to send me an emergency team, and maybe the police, to the Corinthians mine as soon as possible."

"And inform the BSAA!" Jill whispered to her. Claire took the headphone off her ear and covered the microphone with one hand.

"Jill, we don't have any evidence of an bio organic attack. I can't have your people come just to have a look at the situation." She spoke into the phone again. "Yes, thank you Lindsay. Oh, and, send some reinforcement to Colombia as well…" She hung up quickly before running to her personal closet to grab her weapon.

"Where do you think you're going?" Jill asked in a rather angry tone. Before Claire could react, the blonde had already put a hand on her friend's arm.

"I'm gonna find him." The redhead pulled back. She looked at her watch. "It's almost three now. I need about one hour to get to the mine. If 15:51 refers to a meeting time, I'm already late." She gave Jill a concerned look. "I'm sorry, do you mind staying here? You see it's kind of an emergency."

Jill shook her head.

"I'm coming with you," she said.

"No way! I took you to the graveyard, I brought you to TerraSave, but I'm not gonna pull you into this with me." She raised her voice. "Chris would kill me!"

"He wouldn't forgive me either if I let anything happen to you." The blonde was completely convinced. "I'm not leaving you alone."

Claire stared at her, trying to organize the thoughts running through her mind, as Jill held her gaze. It was true. Chris would be as destroyed about Jill's death as about her own. But was risking their both lives really the solution? What would Chris do? Nothing. He wouldn't give a damn about Neil's life. But what if it was about someone he cared about? He would definitely tie Jill and herself up and go himself. Claire smiled at the idea. Jill noticed the sudden change in her expression.

"What's so funny?"

"I was imagining Chris seeing us here," she said. "I'm sure he'd know what to do."

"He'd tie us up and leave on his own," Jill said laughing.

"That's just what I was thinking." Claire nodded slightly, giving in to her friend's wish. "You win. I'll take you with me, on one condition." She handed her another belt with a Beretta 92F. "Even if you don't shoot. Even if you do shoot and fail. I don't want you to be without this."

Jill didn't know what to say. She looked at the gun before slowly putting her hand on the cold metal surface. She felt weak before the powerful weapon, able to take lives. She swallowed heavily, but nodded.

"Thank you Claire." She nodded and put the holster around her waist. Claire smiled at her.

"Now, we should really get going."

* * *

Hello everybody!

Let me once more thank you for reading and reviewing. Special thanks to **Ultimolu** for the honest review; to my friend **Thebigticket21** who always inspires me with her own stories; and to **Sofistinha** , who, I hope, liked Claire in chapter three and four as well.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas. I 'll be back next week :D


	5. V - In too deep

_Resident Evil still belongs to Capcom... T_T_

* * *

 **\- V -**

 **In too deep**

 _Wednesday, 4 p.m._

"That's Neil's car. He must be in there already." Claire shouted when she saw her boss' black, shiny SUV parked in front of the mine entrance. She jumped out of the vehicle. "If I hadn't got lost we'd have arrived at time. Fucking Navigation system!"

"At least we know for sure he's in here." Jill looked around. "But shouldn't the cops be here already?"

"You're right. I'll check that with Lindsay," Claire said dialing the headquarter number on her phone. "Hi Lindsay, it's Redf… What? Why? I see... When is the team arriving? Ok, thank you... Yes his car is here. I'm going in… Yes, I'll keep you updated… Thank you Lindsay." Claire was so angry she almost threw the device away. "They're not coming."

"Why not?"

"They say that they can't investigate the case of a missing person before seventy-two hours have passed since he disappeared."

"Well, we actually know now where he is so he's not missing anymore. Also, he came here on his own will," Jill said staring at the entrance. "I wonder why he came alone. It would have been more intelligent to get here with support."

"Sure. But that's why we are here now." Claire spoke with belief. "A TerraSave team will arrive soon. But I can't wait. If Neil needs help, I have to get in."

Jill remembered how Claire had spoken about her boss the night before. She still believed what she'd told her, but wasn't sure if her friend really understood how concerned she was about Fisher's condition.

"Then let's get in there," she touched Claire's hand.

Both women walked into the mine. The entrance was quite large, but covered with high herbage which made it difficult to pass. Lucky they both wore comfortable clothes. Jill was dressed in a black shirt, blue jeans and sneakers; Claire wore a red jacket over her white tank top, black pants and comfortable leather boots. After thirty feet, they found a door on the left, which led to a small office. Old pencils and newspapers had been thrown remissly onto the desk. Instinctively, the women looked in every corner for useful objects.

"Oooh, ammo!" Claire said happily when she opened a drawer. "Too bad it's for a machine gun."

Jill stared at her fearfully.

"Jill, you can leave if you want," Claire said as she saw her friend's look. "I can handle this on my own."

The blonde shook her head.

"I'm in this with you." She smiled convinced. Suddenly, something on the wall caught her eye. "Look at that. Is that a map?"

Claire looked at the wall.

"Yes it is." She took the plan and had a look at it. It felt greasy and flabby "But this doesn't make sense. This is a plan of a five-floor building."

They shook as a dull sound came from inside the mine. Both women ran out of the office and deeper into the cave. The walls tightened and built a long corridor. Their surroundings dimmed and they weren't able to see what was in front of them any more.

"Don't you have a flashlight?" Jill asked.

"I left it at the office," Claire said and smirked. "It's obvious I spend more time there than on the field, right?"

"I might have a lighter. It won't be a permanent light source, but at least we'll be able to distinguish where we set foot for a while."

"What? They let you play with fire in the hospital?" Claire asked grinning, which Jill didn't see until she suddenly lit up the small space with the flame of her lighter.

"I took it from Neil's house because I wanted to celebrate today all the birthdays I missed in the past years and blow the candles on four cakes." She grinned back at her friend before looking forward. What they saw was the same narrow corridor pushing itself further through the stone. Once they'd seen they wouldn't trip over anything, both decided to go on in darkness, in order not to waste too much gas of the lighter nor to overheat it. Claire before Jill, walked slowly over the rocky irregular surface. After a few more steps Claire got hit by the view of a strange light.

"Jill, I think there's a hole in the floor." She stood aside to let Jill have a look at it. "Let's see what it is."

The corridor ended where, for instance, a hole opened in the ground and a blue light shone from below. A ladder reached down to another stage.

"This is not good," Jill said.

"I have to get down there." Claire got on her knees, turned herself around and slowly started climbing down the ladder backwards. She tried to be as silent as possible in order not to attract the attention of any possible enemies to herself. When she was low enough she took a look at the surroundings.

"Jill," she said when she assured nobody was in the place, "you need to see this."

Jill doubted a second, but then decided to follow her friend, like she'd always followed Chris.

Staring at the space, she suddenly understood the map they'd found. They were standing in an underground installation, with several floors and balconies reaching out of the with metal plates covered walls. The whole structure had the shape of a huge doughnut. In the middle, there was nothing, a huge dark hole of nothing. The ambience was held in the clear light they'd seen through the hole before, and which came from halogen tubes that were placed all over the ceiling.

Jill took out the map.

"Good idea!" Claire said. "Does it match?"

Jill nodded.

"We're on the fifth floor," she said. "And there's an _X_ drawn on the second one."

"Do you think this map was for Neil?" Claire asked.

"If so, he didn't take it. Which means that he could be anywhere in these hallways."

"My intuition says we should go to the marked spot anyway." Claire looked at her friend searching her approval.

"Mine says we should get back and wait for help." Jill stared back at the redhead, but then smiled. "But I never trust my intuition. Let's see what it is Neil was supposed to find."

After having another look at the map, the women saw that the first door in the area led to a stairwell that connected the different floors. With her gun lifted, Claire opened the door carefully and checked what was behind.

"Nothing here. Come in."

"Claire, smile," Jill said. "Someone's watching us."

The small camera was pointing directly to the door. When they started moving forward, it turned around slowly, following their steps.

"Infiltrating somewhere isn't as easy as in the 90's anymore, is it?" Claire laughed nervously.

"Let's move on. They know we're here, so it's too late to turn around and leave." Jill gave her friend a convinced glance and smiled.

Claire nodded. They walked down the stairs slowly, expecting anything to happen. When they reached the half landing, the lights went out.

"What's happening?" Jill hooked her fingers into Claire's jacket.

"I don't know, but try to stay calm, okay?" the sudden darkness had confused her for a second, but Claire was already focusing on everything that could be perceived with other senses than the sight. She heard a pumping noise coming from downstairs, followed by running footsteps.

"Don't breathe," Claire pushed herself and Jill into the nearest corner and stood protectively in front of her friend.

"It's coming closer," Jill whispered as she heard the footsteps running up the stairs and directly towards them.

Claire held her gun firmly as she lifted it with both hands and pointed straight forward, in complete darkness. Although it was complete illogical, she closed her eyes and concentrated on the approaching noise. A disgusting grunt joined the sound of the footsteps, the redhead bit her lower lip. Whatever is was, it was close. It had just reached the half landing platform where they were standing. Claire knew the moment had come. She held her breath and shot.

The grunting stopped and they heard the thing fall onto the floor. Jill was about to take out her lighter to see what had attacked them, when suddenly the lights turned on again. The view of the creature next to their feet hit them hard. It was a male humanlike being, whose several body parts looked like sewed together, just as Frankenstein's monster, with fresh scars all over his body. His now dead eyes were blood-filled and from his mouth dripped a foamy saliva. His grey, dirty shirt and jeans tightened heavily around his swollen body. Claire had shot him right into the head, but the wound was barely bleeding.

"This doesn't quite look like the G-Virus or _Las Plagas_ ," Claire said.

"It's definitely not Uroboros either," Jill added, kneeling down next to the creature. She looked at her friend. "You did great," she said, pointing at the head. "Perfect shot."

"Pure coincidence," Claire said. "Next time you'll do it." She winked.

Jill smiled nervously before getting on her feet again. They continued walking down the stairs.

* * *

'Very good shooting abilities - Probable knowledge about different types of virus and parasites - calm'. Though the words were written on a paper they echoed through the room and his head. The young, clear blond man looked at the screen. He couldn't believe how those two women had been able to find the facilities. Fisher was supposed to come alone and those bitches would only be a hassle. He leaned back in his seat and combed his ear-long hair out of his face with his fingers. The good thing about it was that he had finally found a new toy to play with. The previous weeks had been boring the hell out of him and those women were just the perfect target for his games. He was going to make sure that experience would be their last one. A maleficent smile popped onto his lips as he thought about leading them to the basement. It would surely scare the shit out of them. He typed something on a computer when suddenly the phone rang. He answered.

"… Yes, he's come. But he's brought an unpleasant present. Two women… I'm not sure. He could have been followed without knowing it. But they fell into the trap, I don't think they'll survive for long… Their names?... Sure, I can see if they are related to Fisher in any way… Don't worry. It's all under control… "

He hung up and made a grimace. So he couldn't just get rid of those women. He was not amused about the decisions his boss had been taking lately. But he was sure, sooner or later, he'd get his reward for loyalty. He decided to just follow instructions and get the complete profile of the two ladies for his boss. What were they calling each other? Julie and Clara? He started looking through the several databases they had stolen months ago, and in which they had also found Fisher. He didn't find any matches related to him, except a girl called Julia Matthews, but who turned out to be a seventy-year-old ex-secretary of the FBC who'd retired years ago. He understood he had to do a more generic search if he wanted to find something and decided to run through the databases one by one, starting with TerraSave. It was the most obvious choice, so he wasn't surprised when among high-valued members he found a woman called…

"Claire Redfield!" He frowned. "She won't happen to be…" he clicked on her name and opened her file. "Yes, she is." A grin formed on his lips. "Then the other one must be... Jill Valentine. Hhm?" He looked back at the screens where the pictures of the security cameras were shown. "How mysterious. You don't look quite dead to me, Miss Valentine."

* * *

Neil was stunned by the size of the underground facilities. He remembered the case of this mine years ago since young Claire Redfield hadn't been speaking about anything else back then. But he was sure that neither her nor anyone could have imagined that someone would secretly turn it into a lab. He walked through the room, the dim light almost causing him to throw down several test tubes. Most of what seemed to have been liquid samples of some substances had all turned into dry dust and he guessed the lab had been abandoned already several years ago. He suddenly saw a monitor showing images of a security camera. He couldn't believe his eyes.

"Claire! Damn it! What are you doing here?" He spoke, even knowing she wasn't hearing him. He suddenly forgot why he had come in first place. He identified the room they were in and had a look at his self-drawn map. He holstered his gun and climbed back into the air duct.

* * *

Hello everybody! I hope you all had (or are still having) a wonderful Christmas time and that you enjoyed this chapter. The next one will be a little longer.

Thank you all so much for reading, reviewing, loving or hating this. Special thanks to **Thebigticket21** for the support. What would I do without your every week's encouraging words? :D

As you all see, I love getting reviews ;). You can also tell me if you don't like the story. I can totally handle bad reviews. Every opinion will be helpful to improve this hahaha

One last thing: Unless I get really inspired, this is the last chapter for 2016. So, read ya next year!

Thank you!


	6. VI - The nightmare

_Hello everybody. I hope you started this new year properly. I wish you all a wonderful 2017 full of great stories._

* * *

 **\- VI -**

 **The nightmare**

 _Wednesday, 4:30 p.m._

"I find it weird that all the doors are open here," Jill said as they crossed the third unlocked door in a row on their way through the hallways.

"Well..." Claire tried to come up with a logical answer. "It may be because they didn't expect any unauthorized subjects to find this place."

"Why do they have safety cameras then?" Jill smiled.

"True…"

"I'm not saying this to worry you. It's just odd." Jill said observing the situation. "This was obviously a lab. In labs the access to certain areas is usually restricted."

"Maybe we haven't reached those areas yet…" Claire mumbled before giving her friend a frightened look. What was awaiting them behind those walls?

Claire held her breath when she put her hand on the doorknob to the room where Neil had been summoned. She turned it slowly and breathed again as it opened. A dim light shone in a corner of the large room. It was full of old lockers and metal tables with wooden boxes on it. Jill got closer to have a better look at them.

"What is it?" Claire asked while putting down her gun as she saw there was no one in there.

"Looks like a mutated hand." Jill lifted the box.

"How nice," Claire said ironically. "What was Neil supposed to find in here?"

"I think the _X_ was drawn on a certain spot in the room, wasn't it?" Jill reminded her friend.

"Right." Claire took the map out of her pocket and unfolded it on one of the tables. "It looks like it shows something on the wall." She walked towards the end of the room, while Jill opened another case.

"If I keep on looking I'll find the whole body stuffed into boxes," she said. "Here's the right foot."

Claire smiled as she spotted a dark shadow on the wall. She stepped forward to examine it when suddenly the floor cracked. Before she could react she broke through the rusted surface and fell onto the floor below.

"Ouch!" She yelled in pain.

Jill ran to the hole in the ground and kneeled down.

"Claire, are you okay?" She called through the hole.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She looked around. A flickering halogen lamp illuminated the cold room. The floor was covered with dry blood stains and chains were hanging from the ceiling. With thick iron bars closed cells evolved the room. It looked somehow like an arena of that Roman Colosseum where gladiators fought to death. Only one entrance was a metal door. Not that it had been very comfortable before, but standing in that space caused Claire to shiver. She stood up and walked to the door.

"Shit."

"What is it?" Jill asked from above.

"I think I've found the only closed door in this place." Claire ran back to where she had fallen down. "Listen Jill, I need you to search the way to the other side of that door and see if there's a key or something."

Jill suddenly became aware of the situation.

"Alone?"

She hadn't been alone since Kijuju. Even at night in the hospital there was always a nurse with her. Otherwise, she'd panicked. One night the nurse had found the blonde sitting on the window frame willing to jump when she came back after a visit to the bathroom. It was irrational, but Jill couldn't stand being alone. And now she was supposed to go down the dark and creepy stairway all on her own?

"Claire, I'm going to jump down to you. I can't be alone." She put her hands to her throat and began to breathe heavily.

"Jill, don't be stupid, I'm trapped here. I need your help to get out. Besides, you might get hurt jumping down from there." Claire understood she had to calm her friend down and lowered her voice. She shook her head and spoke quietly. "Jill, I know you can make it. It's just one floor and you have the map with you."

Jill looked at her friend and nodded, still shivering. She forced herself to stand on her feet. And gave one last fearful glance to her friend below. Then, she turned around and looked up which way she had to go exactly. Before leaving the room, she touched the weapon in the holster, praying to every supernatural force for not having to use it.

* * *

The blond man caressed softly the screen where Jill was shown.

"What happened to you, Miss Valentine? Did coming back from the dead break you that much?" On what he had seen, he'd already created complete reports on the two women. Claire Redfield seemed a very tough young lady, especially compared to her older friend. He sent out the reports, expecting to receive soon the order to eliminate both intruders. When he looked back onto the screens he almost froze.

"What the fuck is he doing?"

* * *

Jill walked slowly through the stairwell, holding her back against the walls. The smell of rotten flesh made her feel dizzy and hitting noises coming from beyond seemed to scare her every time they reached her ears. She wasn't sure if she preferred staying there alone in solitude or finding out what had produced the sounds. She swallowed and licked her dry lips. There was no other option than going on.

Jill dropped down in fear as she heard a heavy knock from the underground and the lights flickered. The tension cut her breath and caused her to tremble heavily. What had that noise been? She crawled on her hands and knees into the nearest corner and covered her head with her arms, keeping her eyes tightly shut. She didn't want to see what was coming towards her. She knew what was coming. It was those people in white, carrying needles and test tubes. They'd extract blood or inject something into her. They'd hurt her, make her scream in pain,they's scratch and cut her. She sould even feel them cutting through her skin. Only her open mouth, her almost dislocated jaw, told her she was screaming, but no noise came to her ears. The silence wasn't the problem. The solitude wasn't the problem either. It was was what coming when the solitude ended.

The screams ceased.

She looked up. She'd expected to find something or someone in front of her. But she didn't see anything. Nobody in white coat was coming. Nobody would take her back to labs. Nobody would ever control her mind again. Nobody but herself.

It took her a little to find the strength to get up again. She forced herself onto her feet. Claire needed her help.

"I'm going to get her out of here, Chris," she whispered, remembering how worried Chris had always been about his sister. This reciprocal concern the Redfield siblings felt for each other had pushed them both into trouble more than once. Jill couldn't hold back a tender smirk as she started running through the stairway towards the room where she was supposed to find her friend. She almost embraced the door that separated her from Claire when she reached it.

"Claire," she panted. "I'm here."

"Well done, Jill." Claire yelled happily through the door. "You see? You can do everything, if you just want. Now, please see if you can find a key to open the door."

"I have something better," Jill said, completely calmed again, and took her lockpick out of her pocket. It had been a birthday gift from Chris, since she'd lost hers in the Spencer Estate when they'd fallen together into the dungeon in the basement. This new one had an engraving saying 'I. O. E.' on it.

"I Open Everything," she read. She smiled, remembering how in the past she had often wished her lockpick could open Chris' heart as well. She shook her head to get rid of such a childish idea. With precision, she put the tool into the lock and started working on it.

Claire heard a scratching on the the metal and remembered that Jill was an expert in opening locks. Actually, she could've done that from the inside as well. However, the door would open in less than a minute. She shook when she suddenly heard a grunting noise coming from one of the prison cells behind her. She slowly walked towards the metal bars to check out the inside, when she made a wrong step over a floor granting. Again, rusted metal ceased and her foot got buried in a gutter.

"Shit! Not now," she yelped silently and tried to rip her foot out of the hole. The grunting came closer and she couldn't even move. She got petrified when she saw what kind of creature was breaking through the bars that were closing the cell. It looked like a huge, with fire playing, human baby. It was about nine feet tall and wore a big jar in one hand and a torch in the other one. Its head was covered with bandages and a cage-like metal helmet. It stared at Claire with one red glowing eye and laughed at her.

"Very funny," the woman mumbled before continuing trying to free her foot in anxiety. The enemy started hitting the torch onto the jar as if it was a drum, as Claire saw the content of the jar starting to boil, about to explode. As she saw it aim for her with the opening she understood what destiny was awaiting her. She instinctively pointed her gun at the B.O.W., giving it three quick and effectless shots before focusing on the defence. She quickly looked around for some object she could use as a shield, but apparently the only thing she had to cover herself was her own clothing. Even if it was not giving a real protection, throwing her jacket over her head and arms was the best idea she had. It could possibly catch most of the sparks and she'd just throw it away, gaining some time before getting attacked again. She knelt down and tried to hide behind the fabric. Before the imminent threat of getting burned, Claire couldn't do anything else but closing her eyes and thinking of all the people she'd never see again. She felt a wave of heat approach her, before suddenly getting thrown at a side by something… or someone. Her savior had freed her foot from her boot and was now lying on top of her on the floor. She opened her eyes again.

"Neil!" tears of happiness shot into her eyes. "You're okay!"

"And thank God you're well too. Since when is your jacket fire retardant?" He smiled at her and quickly got to his feet again, helping Claire up.

"Very funny," Claire said as she reached out for his hand. "I'd like to see what you'd done in my place." Neil pointed his gun at the head of the beast.

"The eye, Claire. Shoot its eye!"

Claire took her gun and did as he told her. It wasn't easy to aim for the tiny eye, even if it was glowing in the dark. The monster was faster than its huge body would suggest and it didn't stop moving at any time. The few shots that hit its head didn't actually seem to bother it. It even kept on laughing at them.

"Are you sure its weak point is its head?" Claire asked panting.

"How would I know?" Neil said. "I just know that I'd prefer getting shot in the ass than in the eye."

"Overwhelmingly logical" Claire laughed and kept on shooting.

Jill had lost some practice after all those years and she got distracted by the sound and smells that came from the other side of the door. It took her some time to finally open the lock. Before pushing the door open, she took the gun from her holster. She didn't know what she was supposed to find, but she had heard that the target was the creature's eye. She took one deep breath and entered the room.

"Thank God, Jill" yelled Claire when she saw her friend. We can really use another weapon.

Jill nodded at her friend and aimed for the eye. Though she tried to concentrate, her hand started shaking heavily. Though Claire was aiming for the target, she noticed her friend's situation.

"Don't give a shit about where you shoot. Just do it." She remembered an old Cat Stevens song her mother had often sung for her and Chris before her death. "The first shot is the deepest," she said.

Jill giggled nervously and tried to calm her hand. But she didn't get the chance to shoot. The B.O.W. fell to the floor. Neil had given it the last shot.

"I've run out of ammo," he said. "I hope there's not another one of these."

"I'm almost at zero too," Claire said and smiled at Neil. "I'm glad to see you."

He smiled back at her, then walked over to Jill, who was still staring at the gun in her hand. He put his hand on her weapon.

"Claire was right. The first shot is the most difficult one," he said nicely before stretching out his hand. "Neil Fisher."

"Jill Valentine," she said shaking hands with him. Neil's eyes opened widely in surprise. He had taken her for a newbie.

"Jill Valentine? Really? E-excuse me. I didn't know…"

"It's okay." Jill smiled. "I feel like a complete rookie, too."

Neil didn't know what to say and just stared and smiled at her. Claire walked over to the gutter where her boot was still stuck. After taking it out and putting it on again she reached out for Neil's blue shirt collar.

"Now, you. What the fuck are you doing down here alone? Everyone is worried about you!" She tried to look angry, but couldn't avoid smirking lightly at the look of the handsome head of TerraSave. 'Damn it! Has he always to smell that good? Even down here?' she wondered.

He placed his fingers on her wrists and took her hands down.

"I'm sorry Claire, I didn't mean to worry you," he whispered. "I got that strange message saying someone would give me important information about a mole in our organization. Of course I couldn't tell anyone until knowing more."

"A mole in TerraSave?" Claire couldn't believe it. How could there be a traitor among them? But then another thought came to her mind. "Did you even suspect of me?"

"Claire, I'm sorry. I had to do my job." She was obviously hurt and he wanted to fix it. "But seeing how you've come after me I will never doubt you again." He smiled at her tenderly and stood closer to her. Claire felt like she was about to blush. Though she didn't like to admit it, she enjoyed his attention. However, she wasn't feeling comfortable flirting with her boss right after escaping death. Jill saw Claire's doubtful expression and decided to interrupt that one-way romantic scene.

"How did you get in here?" she asked the man. Neil stared at her before he pointed at the ceiling.

"I jumped from the floor above when I saw that thing was getting closer to Claire."

"Well I thank you for your help, Neil. But if it wasn't for Jill this would now be the grave for both of us."

"I know," he said, looking at Claire. "But I knew you hadn't come alone in here. I saw you two through a monitor and went back to get you out of here" I supposed you had fallen through the floor and that Jill was looking for an alternate way".

"Have you met anyone yet? Do you have an idea if that person really wanted to share information or did someone want to get rid of you?" Jill sounded like the self-confident officer she once was.

Neil stared at her, confused. He hadn't expected her to be that rough.

"No, I haven't met anyone yet. But I don't think the person I had to meet with wants me dead. This is just a very safe place where we could talk. And I've been informed about all possible traps I could have run into all the time."

"Traps?" Claire asked seriously. "You mean like the hole in the floor above?"

"Yes, for example. " He nodded. "Or the map I was supposed to leave at the entrance."

"A map at the entrance?" Claire asked fearfully giving Jill a nervous look.

"There's a map nailed to a wall before the ladder that leads to this place. One of the notes I got said I should just copy it and leave it there."

Jill and Claire looked at each other.

"Just don't touch your lips, nose, eyes… anything." Claire almost choked. "It could be poisoned."

"If the virus is stable enough to air exposition it could even be a way to infect us."

Neil understood the talk.

"Wait.. are you saying you have the map with you?" The women nodded. "Oh shit…That explains everything," he said.

"What does it explain?" Jill lifted an eyebrow before taking the plan out.

"Don't worry, you're neither poisoned nor infected. That map attracts those things to you." He pointed at the dead creature on the floor. "Look at it. It's made of fresh skin and it's impregnated with some fragrance which I assume turns them aggressive even at a distance of dozens of feet."

The women looked at each other. They couldn't believe they hadn't been more cautious.

"I never imagined that a map would get me into danger instead of helping me out of it." Jill laughed.

Claire also burst into laughter. Neil didn't understand their reaction, but he didn't care. They were both fine and now they'd leave behind that map and get out of that place.

* * *

Fisher had reunited with the women in order to help them, for sure. But he didn't know that it was also their death sentence. He needed to speak to the TerraSave leader alone and he needed to do it as soon as possible, not wanting to wait any longer for instructions from above. He wanted those women dead. His eye was twitching. He took a pill case out of his pocket and had to take three of them before getting calmer. After taking a deep breath, he took a small metal case from a drawer and opened it. It contained two syringes, doses of a former version of the T-Phobos - a failed version indeed, but exactly what he needed now. He took the blue dose and walked out of the room and into the elevator, being the basement his goal. The elevator door slid open.

"Hello, my love," he said smiling. "How are you feeling today?"

Chained to the wall, a young man in his twenties was panting in pain. He had been kidnapped by the blond guy just a couple of days before at the exit of his gym and hadn't eaten anything since then. But hunger and thirst weren't what troubled him the most. It was the uncertainty about his future, not knowing if he would ever get out of his prison alive. The blond man caressed his face over the piece of black tape that was covering his mouth and part of his cheeks. Sweat and blood were dripping from his forehead, glueing his dark, half-long hair to his skin. His muscles were firm and well built. He looked simply amazing. He opened his eyes and gave his punisher an understanding look, begging for mercy.

"Look at you, my love. You are so beautiful," the blond man whispered, caressing his cheeks and neck. Then he showed him the syringe. "But I will make you perfect."

The young man began to cry desperately trying to get himself free, but it was useless. The kidnapper turned his head aside and injected the blue virus directly into his neck. The boy tried to scream, but couldn't. He looked at his blond punisher in fear. Suddenly he started shaking heavily and his eyes went bloody. His skin began to crack and crumble off his face as his muscles swelled up. With one quick move, he ripped the chains out of the wall and let go a scream of freedom. The blond man had been watching the show silently. He started to clap with energy.

"Good boy," he said. "And now, go get those women who are bothering us."

The mutated boy looked at him and walked in his direction. Saliva was dripping from his still taped mouth. His eyes were filled with blood and anger. When he reached his punisher, he screamed desperately.

"I said, go behind those women," the man said. "You are supposed to haunt female visitors, so get going. What… don't come any closer. I'm your creator." Something was going wrong. The virus wasn't supposed to do this. The blond man swallowed, stepping back in fear, sweat running down his back. "Don't even think about it."

The monster stood in front of him and threw his right arm, together with the chain on it, behind its head. With one quick move, it hit the man's skull with the heavy metal chain link.

A heavy pain ran down his spine when his body hit the floor. Everything went blurry and a shrill whistle resounded in his ears. He tried to get up, but his hands slipped over the bloody surface whenever he tried to support himself, causing his body to crash down against the floor again. His blond hair was already soaked in blood. He got to turn onto his back, his eyes meeting the staring gaze of his opponent. A deep cry released from his throat as the creature stuck his hand into his mouth and grabbed his tongue. He tried to bite its hand, but couldn't gather enough strength in his jaw. A tearing pain ran down his throat as he got lifted, hanging from his tongue, before being thrown into the nearest corner. Blood dripped from his mouth. With effort, he looked up and his gaze met the creature's right before the chain crashed down against his head again.

* * *

Ouch! Poor nameless blond guy. I guess he did get his reward indeed LOL. Next week we'll see how this continues.

I'd like to thank everybody for reading this, for following, favouriting and reviewing. It means a lot to me. But you already know that ;)

 **absolutefaith** : There's the new chapter and it's a long one. I hope you enjoyed it ;)

 **Thebigticket21** : Yes, Claire is completely blind. Maybe Jill can open her eyes. She's really too good for that slimy ass... u.u Chris is gonna show up a little later again. Jill is not ready for that encounter yet ;)

 **Sofistinha** : Tsee, we still don't know who that blond guy is... But I can assure you, it doesn't matter any more hahaha Jill has had her solitude moment (breakdown included). Maybe it wasn't as tough as I had wanted it to be. But I think she's sufferend enough LOL

That's all for now. As I said above, I wish you a wonderful new year.


	7. VII - Run!

**Resident Evil and all its characters belong to Capcom.**

 **I just wanted you to know that.**

* * *

 **\- VII -**

 **Run!**

 _Wednesday, 5:20 p.m._

"Can we leave now?" Claire asked.

"I still need to know who wanted to speak to me," Neil said convinced. "Do you imagine Pedro's the mole? Or maybe Gina, Lindsay? It could be anyone…"

"Neil! Stop it!" Claire shouted. "You can't just trust the word of someone you don't know."

"She's right Mr. Fisher," Jill added. "Even if you find that person and he or she gives you a name. What would you do after that?"

"You can't just fire someone without evidences Neil." Claire's voice sounded warm. She put her hand on his. "Come on, let's get out of here and tomorrow I'll be back at the office and I'll help you with that."

Neil felt the soft touch of Claire's hand and looked at her. The dim light made her hair glow and he got hypnotized by the freckles on her nose. He had always admired her beauty, but for the first time he admitted to himself that his feelings for the redhead went beyond the mere physical attraction. He smiled at her.

"Ok. I guess you're right."

Claire smiled and winked at him before walking towards the door. Jill and Neil followed her.

"We'll be home for dinner," the redhead said. "I'm starving."

"That doesn't surprise me. We haven't even had lunch," Jill reminded her. "We deserve a really good dinner tonight."

"You mean better than yesterday?" Claire frowned.

"Better than yesterday is impossible," the blonde said smiling. "But maybe we could let others cook for us."

The women laughed happily. Neil was frowning behind them. The mine was surely getting infested with BSAA agents soon and he and that guy would have to find another time and place for their meeting. He could probably convince Claire not to run to her brother and report everything to him. But Valentine wouldn't be that easy to stop. He clenched his fist in anger. It was all Claire's fault. Everything had ran wrong since the women had shown up. Why did the redhead always try to save everyone? He looked at Claire's ponytail from behind and couldn't help but smile at the thought that he was the one she'd come for this time.

They walked up the stairway to the fourth floor again, when they suddenly heard a loud hitting noise coming from the basement.

"What was that?" Neil asked.

"I don't know, but it didn't sound friendly, hurry up." Claire started running, Jill and Neil right behind her.

"It's coming!" Neil turned around and saw the huge, muscled creature dragging its chains up the stairs. "Jill, give me your gun!"

"Neil, what are you trying to do?" Claire looked at him fearfully.

"I'll distract it while you two escape. But I need a weapon, or at least ammo."

Jill hesitated at first, but then handed him her Beretta.

"Take it. It's fully loaded, but I still hope it is enough." She nodded at him.

"No way," Claire screamed. "We've come to help you. Leaving you behind now is nonsense!"

Jill took her arm and turned her around.

"I think he knows what he does. Come on." She smirked at her friend.

Claire stared at Neil in doubt. She couldn't believe Jill was just taking her away from him. The man smiled.

"Just go. I'll catch you up later."

Claire still stood there, without reacting. Jill pulled her arm again.

"Come on, Claire. Let's get out. Maybe the team is already there."

Claire doubted a second, but then remembered how Chris had told her once that she couldn't expect to be everyone's savior.

"Take care." She said before turning around and running towards the exit, Jill following her.

Neil stared down the stairs, holding the gun and waiting for the creature to arrive. Not even he knew what exactly was awaiting him, but he had seen enough to know that it wasn't a huge ball of cotton candy. He suddenly saw a shadow running up the stairs and took a deep breath, preparing himself for whatever was coming.

"Hello! There you are!" He whispered as the mutated chain man appeared in front of him.

The infected ran towards him, his bloody stare searching for something. When it was close enough, Neil shot once, twice, three times. But the beast didn't even tremble.

"Damn, you're a tough one."

He had to dodge when the creature came closer. But he couldn't avoid getting hit by the heavy metal chain that came flying towards him. The impact pushed him against the wall. Everything went black.

* * *

"Fuck!" Claire yelled when they arrived at the highest level. Jill stared up to the hole in the ceiling.

"What happened to the ladder?" The metal had been ripped off. It was impossible to reach it from where they stood.

"We need to find another way." Claire turned around searching for an alternative. "I hope Neil understands…"

They heard a groaning and heavy footsteps approach.

"It's coming," Jill whispered shivering.

"Neil…" Claire frowned. "I need to get back." Jill caught her arm and pulled her back.

"Don't be silly Claire." Suddenly a huge creature ran through the door, breaking the framework out of the walls. It was obvious that it had be human once, but now his whole body was swollen, its eyes were bloody and saliva was dripping from its mouth. The chains that hung from its arms made a clear sound as they scratched over the floor.

The women stared at their new enemy with fear. They had a short moment to contemplate the disgusting creature that seemed to suffer with every breath. It put its eye on them and screamed in pain.

"Claire," Jill shouted. "Run!" She pulled her friend's arm and they sprinted through the first door they found.

"Don't waste time closing it!" Jill shouted.

"I'm not new in this, you know?" Claire tried to laugh as they ran down the long hallway, the B.O.W. always right behind them, grunting and shaking the chains with a clashing sound.

Jill's heart hadn't pounded that fast since she had fought against Chris and Sheva. Not even her escape from the catacombs with Josh had given her such an adrenaline shot. She felt that something inside her, something that had been lost for a long time, was about to come back again. And though they were running for their lives, Jill was enjoying the situation.

The stairway guided them to a door to an even higher floor. They pushed the door open only to find themselves on a small balcony, from where they could watch the whole main area, and stare into the deep hole that was reaching down into the dark under them. They were trapped.

"Shit," Claire cursed leaning against the handrail. "Who would build a balcony up here?"

Nobody had the chance to answer her question. In that right moment the beast crashed through the door behind them and ran right towards Jill.

Claire needed just half a second to react. Chris would kill her if anything happened to his recently recovered partner. Intuitively, she ran towards her friend and pushed her out of the creature's way, being hit by the beast herself.

Everything went way too fast for Jill to avoid the tragedy. The creature couldn't stop early enough and bumped into Claire, breaking the rail and causing them both to fall.

"Claire, no!" Jill ran to the edge, getting ready to see the worst, nothing.

Claire wasn't religious. Not after all she had seen. But when she got aware of her situation, she said a little thank you prayer to what force might have caused it. She had actually caught the broken rail with both hands and was now hanging from the balcony. She took back the prayer when she realized that the creature was still holding on to her right leg, almost ripping it off.

"Goddamn!" She screamed in pain. It took the beast a while to understand its position to the top and the bottom of the space. It tried to reach Claire's left leg to climb up again, to which the redhead resisted eagerly kicking its hands.

"Claire, thank God!" Jill yelled in relief.

"Jill", the younger woman cried. "It's pulling me down!"

The blonde didn't even try to pull her friend up, knowing that she wouldn't be strong enough to handle the weight of both Claire and the infected. She looked around, trying to find something to throw at the beast.

"Jill, my weapon."

The blonde's eyes opened wide. Claire had her gun still holstered, but couldn't reach without letting go of the rail. Even with both hands it was hard to keep herself from falling. Jill didn't think twice. This was a matter of life or death, and it was Claire hanging there. Her friend. Chris' little sister. Lucky she had only given her gun to Neil, but had kept the holster. She took it off and fixed her feet with the belt to a still intact part of the rail. Closing her eyes, she leaned her body down backwards over the edge.

"Yes, good idea." Claire was still struggling with the beast's hands, resisting the force which was almost ripping her in two. "I'll be a foot taller after this," she screamed in pain.

Jill was hanging from the rail upside down, making her blood rush into her head. She reached out for Claire's weapon.

"Just a little more," she whispered. "Claire, I can't reach it."

Right after the words popped out of her mouth, magically and unfortunately, the holster loosened, freeing Jill's feet. She slipped down, far enough to hold on to Claire's waist to avoid falling.

Claire let go a deep scream from her throat. Having to carry the weight of another person now, her arms felt like splitting.

"Shit, that was close." Jill needed a second to focus. "Claire, hold on."

"I'm trying." Claire clenched her teeth, desperately endeavoring to keep the weight up. She couldn't even move her legs to keep the monster from climbing up her body any more.

Jill anchored the fingers of her right hand into the fabric of Claire's clothes while the left one pulled Claire's gun out of the holster. She pointed at the creature's head. But something stopped her from shooting.

"Claire, I can't." She was now the one who kicked the creature's arms with both feet.

"Yes, you can." Claire's face had turned red from the effort. "I know you can."

The B.O.W., tired of meeting the women's feet, stretched out its arm to hit them with the chains on its wrist. Jill was still struggling with herself. What was happening to her? Why couldn't she shoot?

"Jill, listen." Claire looked down to her friend, her voice sounding calm and warm. "No one is judging you. You're gonna make it. Just do it." She gasped. "Do it for Chris."

Jill's eyes widened and her heart pounded fast. Chris was waiting for them to come home. The man she had been willing to die for. There was no way to deny that he was more important to her than anything else. Even more important than her own insignificant life. No, she didn't really regret having sacrificed herself for him. Because Chris was worth it. And she didn't want to imagine a world without him, without his smile, his eyes, his lips. How often had they found comfort on each other's shoulder, celebrated victories and cried defeats together? Chris was far more than a partner. He was her friend, her soulmate, and though she knew it would have been a mistake, she had often wished their relationship would get to another stage. Especially during her captivity. How many nights had she dreamed he'd come to visit her? Hadn't it been that simple fantasy that had helped her survive all the torture and the experiments? She blushed when she remembered those dreams. She had thought her feelings for him had been gone for good. But there they were again. Wishing Chris had been there to see her, she pointed the weapon right into the creature's eye.

"Claire," she yelled. "There's something I want you to know."

"What is it?" The redhead asked in pain.

"When we get out of here, I'm going to ask your brother out!" Jill sound of the shot filled the whole ambience when she pulled the trigger.

The weight lightened immediately as the beast let go of Claire's feet. It was done.

"You did it." Caire almost cried.

Jill was the first one to climb up to the balcony again, before helping Claire. Once they were out of danger, they melted into a deep, relieved hug.

"Good job, Valentine. You've really made it."

Jill couldn't stop grinning, even as tears shot into her eyes. "I wouldn't have done it without you."

Stroking the blonde's back, Claire suddenly got aware of the situation.

"Jill, I'm hugging you."

"I know," the blonde said. "Isn't it great?"

The redhead nodded still embracing her friend tightly.

"But, are you okay with it?"

"I couldn't be better." The small tears had turned into a huge waterfall flushing down her face.

The women loosened their hug and smiled at each other when they heard a deep alarm echo through the whole facility. ' _Ten minutes to self-destruction_.'

Claire's jaw dropped.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" She yelled into the room.

"It wouldn't be the same without a self-destruct system, would it?" Jill giggled nervously.

They looked at each other and laughed before sprinting into the hallway again.

* * *

Hello again everybody, I hope you liked this quite decisive chapter. Jill seems to finally remember something important ;)

Thank you for reading my work week after week. You already know how happy it makes me. Special thanks to **Thebigticket21** , **Sofistinha** and **PamPotterEvans** for taking the time to review. You are the best!

Let me tell you that there are only two chapters left. Maybe two chapters + an epilogue. I'm still writing it. Also, I won't be really available next week due to work so I may update a little sooner.

Again, thank you so much for following my work. Have a great week :D


	8. VIII - Brave

I do not own Resident Evil. It's something I will never forgive myself.

* * *

 **\- VIII -**

 **Brave**

 _Wednesday, 5:50 p.m._

"After you, Claire." The two friends stood under the opening through which they had entered the facilities. Fortune had wanted them to come across an old rope they had somehow managed to throw through the hole in the ceiling, tied to a piece of rail they had taken with them. Once it had anchored on the floor above, they were ready to climb up the rope and save themselves from being blown into thousand pieces.

Claire turned around, her eyes hopefully seeking for Neil to appear in the hallways. She shook her head.

"I can't leave him here Jill." She gave her friend an imploring look. Jill laid a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sure he's found another way. Come on," she said. "We need to get out of here."

"What if he hasn't? I came here because of Neil, Jill. I can't leave without him." Claire turned around and looked at her friend. Jill swallowed. She had never thought it was possible, but the redhead had turned out to be even more stubborn than her brother.

"Claire, listen. He's a grown up man. You were worried about him before and he was fine. What makes you think he's not now?" Jill's squeezed her shoulder tightly.

"He said he'd come after us," the younger one said. "How long can it take him to come if the B.O.W. reached us in less than a minute."

"You already looked for him, Claire. If he's not in the stairway he must have taken another way. I'm sure he's already outside waiting for us to come out." The blonde tried desperately to convince her friend. ' _Two minutes to self destruction_ ' Jill frowned. They were running out of time and Claire was still not giving in. "And also Chris is waiting for us."

Claire held her breath. Jill was still down there with her and she wasn't going to leave her alone. Damn stubborn Jill Valentine. She could consider herself dead if anything happened to her brother's partner. Of course she cared about Neil. But risking Jill's life and Chris' happiness because of him was probably not only childish, but immensely insane. Especially now that the blonde had committed herself to finally open up to him. Claire smiled malevolently as a thought popped into her mind. She was getting Jill where she wanted her.

"Okay, I'm coming." Claire turned around. "But you have to promise me something." Jill smiled nervously at the spiteful expression the redhead showed.

"Sure," she whispered. She expected everything from Claire, but getting her out of the mine was first priority.

"You're going to tell Chris how you feel about him." Claire narrowed her eyes.

Jill blinked incredulously at first, but then nodded smiling.

"Okay, you win. I'll tell him that he is the person I most trust and care about in this world, and that he's the best man I know." Jill gave in grinning. "Now, come on."

"And that you love him." Claire stared decided at the blonde, who was completely astonished by her friend's wish. Jill's jaw dropped open and she just shook her head.

"Claire, I... I can't tell him such a thing."

"You can't?" The activist lifted her eyebrows.

Jill shivered.

"I mean... Claire, please don't make me tell him."

"Look at you," Claire said smirking. "You've fought hundreds of BOWs and now you're afraid of telling your partner you love him." She took her friend's hand. "Jill, I wouldn't do this to you if I didn't know it's what you both want."

' _One minute to self-destruction._ '

That couldn't be happening. Claire was blackmailing her and their lives depended on her courage to tell Chris whatever she felt for him. The sound of the computer voice telling them when they were going to be blown into pieces echoed through her mind. She surely didn't want to find out up to where Claire was able to risk her own life for her brother's love life.

 _'Thirty seconds to self destruction.'_

"Okay, I'll tell him." Jill yelled hastily. "But let's get out of here now." She pulled on Claire's arm and pointed up the rope. "You first!"

Claire smirked and started climbing up to the entrance. Lucky it wasn't more than ten feet high and close enough to the walls so they could reach a tight vertical surface where to find support for their feet. In less than fifteen seconds they had set foot on the rocky soil of the highest level, running right to the wide cave opening.

"We can make it. Run Jill, run."

Although they saw where they were running to, the mine was still wrapped in darkness. Right when time ran out, Claire stumbled upon a stone and fell onto the floor. Stopping the fall with her hands caused deep scratches in her skin.

Jill ran back to help her up as they heard the first explosions inside the mine.

"Don't worry about me. Save yourself, Jill." Claire gasped. She had hurt her foot and couldn't even stand without help. Needless to say that she wasn't able to run.

"You don't really think I'm leaving you behind, right?" Jill forced a laughter. She threw Claire's arm over her shoulder and pulled her limping friend towards the exit.

"Jill, it's coming!" The bursting noises got louder with every second. If they didn't reach the exit soon, the fire would definitely carbonize them.

"Come on Claire, just a little more." Jill continued pulling on Claire, who desperately tried to run. A wave of heat approached them from behind, almost burning their hair tips.

"Jill, jump!" With her very last strength, Claire jumped with only one foot, still holding on to Jill. Both women got impulsed by the heat right to the outside.

As they fell onto the floor, Jill covered Claire's body with her own, protecting her from the huge flames which came flying out of the mine.

When the heat deceased, Jill looked up, extinguishing the last sparks on her clothes and her hair. She'd need to get a new haircut after that. She smiled at Claire, who had rolled onto her back and was laughing heavily.

"That was fun," she said. "Can we do that again?" She winked at her friend.

"Maybe tomorrow," Jill answered lifting her eyebrows before bursting into laughter. When they caught their breath again, Claire looked at Jill seriously.

"Thank you, my friend. I owe you my life."

Jill smiled.

"I owe you much more." The time she had spent with Claire and Neil in that mine had made her remember very important things from her life before the Spencer Estate. She got onto her feet and helped Claire started removing the dust from their clothes as they suddenly heard footsteps approaching them.

"Oh my God, are you two okay?"

"Neil!" Claire yelped as she looked up and threw her arms around him. "I feared the worst."

Neil got surprised by his colleague's emotional reaction. He smiled tenderly and caressed Claire's red hair.

"I got knocked out by that thing in there. When I woke I tried to find you. I got surprised by the self-destruct system and assumed you were looking for a way out, too".

Jill watched the scene with deep scepticism. She turned around as she heard the approaching sound of wheels and cars.

"The team's here, Claire," she said. Her eyes opened widely as she saw a BSAA van was following the two TerraSave pickups. Claire put a hand on her shoulder.

"What a coincidence, Jill. Look, there's Chris." She smiled maliciously at the almost frightened facial expression of her friend. "Didn't you want to ask him something?"

Jill frowned. It was actually Chris who jumped off the BSAA van, followed by several other BSAA employees, a man in his mid-forties in a black leather jacket among them. She swallowed and cursed herself for having been so talkative earlier.

"Claire, I…"

The redhead patted her shoulder and winked, smiling.

"I know it's hard. But you'll have to be brave now."

Definitely, Claire wouldn't give up until seeing her asking Chris out. She sighed.

"I'll be right back."

* * *

"What the damn hell happened here, Redfield?"

"I already told you everything I know, Johnson." Chris answered. "We just got that call from that TerraSave girl saying Claire might need help here."

"So we're actually here because of your sister? Let it be the last time that your personal interests interfere in your work Redfield." Johnson pulled a small notebook and a pen out of his pocket and started writing down everything remarkable he saw, actions for which he was tagged as Old School by everyone in the BSAA.

"Yeah, sure," Chris mumbled clenching his teeth. No matter what that jerk said, he was always coming if his baby sister needed help.

"Is that Jill Valentine?" Johnson turned around and looked at Chris. "Didn't you say she wasn't coming back until Friday?"

Chris didn't know what to say. He had told everyone Jill's rehab finished the following day. Now Johnson was about to find out he had lied. Jill walked towards them and was already close enough to hear the last sentence of their superior.

"You're right, but I felt that good that I decided to come back a little earlier," she said smiling. "You must be director Johnson, right?" She shook the man's hand and looked at Chris. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about my decision, Captain Redfield. I was about to come to the headquarters to report to all of you, when I somehow ran into your sister and we got involved accidentally into this," she said pointing her thumb at the mine. "We've found an undergroud lab and ran into B.O.W.s, but it has been blown up by the safety system. Miss Redfield, Mister Fisher and myself could escape luckily." Chris smiled at her. Her little lie had saved him from having to confess his own. And Johnson wasn't bright enough to notice that her story didn't make any sense.

The director nodded in approval.

"I see," he said. "However, I'll be awaiting your report on this, agent Valentine." He started walking back to the van. "Oh, and make sure that mess gets cleaned up." He said pointing at the mine entrance before getting into the vehicle.

"Yes, sir!" Both Chris and Jill answered.

"There's something I don't understand, Chris," Jill said after making sure Johnson was out of reach. "Why is that guy treating us like that? I mean, we are the founders of the BSAA."

"He is just taking his new position very seriously. But he's definitely the worst director the BSAA ever had. And I miss O'Brian too." He smiled at her. "Are you okay? Did you get hurt?"

The blonde shook her head.

"No, I'm fine."

Claire came humping over to them and hugged her brother tight.

"I can't believe you're here."

"We got a call from Lindsay Adams saying you were looking for Fisher in the mine," he explained. "I couldn't let you do this alone, though I don't quite understand why you put yourself in danger because of that guy." He looked over to Neil, who was answering the questions of two BSAA agents.

"Well, saving people is my job," she said smiling. "We've all got away with scratches."

Chris gave her a disapproving smirk.

"Whatever. Jill has already been charged with the report about this case." He looked at his former partner, then back at his sister. "So, I'm not going to listen to your distorted version of objective facts young lady. We'll talk later. I'll get someone to see what's left inside the mine." He turned around to follow Johnson into the van.

Claire poked Jill.

"Now!" She walked away, leaving her friend standing alone.

Jill swallowed and took a deep breath. Sweat lingered on the palms of her hands.

"Chris" she called.

He turned around and looked at her.

"Yes?"

* * *

Claire watched the scene from a safe distance.

"Hey, Claire." Neil took her arm and made her look at him.

"Are you okay? Have you told them everything they needed to know?" she asked.

The man nodded.

"Yes." He rubbed the back of his head. "Listen Claire, I know you already gave me a try and I messed up." He hesitated. "But maybe we can start all over again, if you could give me another chance."

Claire smiled and bit her lip. She looked away shyly.

"Neil, I don't know."

He waved his hands in a defensive way in front of her, making her understand that he wasn't going to press her.

"I promise I won't rush things this time." He smiled at her with huge, sad puppy eyes. "What do you say? Can I invite you out for dinner tonight?"

Claire smirked and looked over to Jill and her brother.

"Okay, I'll have dinner with you." She glanced back at Neil. "But not tonight. I still have to help a friend. How about Saturday?"

The man smirked.

* * *

She hesitated. Chris was expecting her to say something and it turned out to be harder than she had thought.

"I was wondering," she said as her almost frightened look met his, "if you had any plans for dinner. I mean, after finishing work of course."

He smiled.

"Well, I like having dinner. It's a strange habit of mine." He laughed, giving her an expectant look.

"Good," she said smirking. "Would you, maybe, like to have dinner with me?"

"You mean alone?"

"Just the two of us, yes." She desperately tried to hide her shiver. He kept smiling.

"Yeah, that sounds good. I just hope Claire doesn't mind."

The shy smile on her lips turned into a wide grin.

"Oh, I think she'll be fine." She laughed. "Well, as you may know, I have been out of town for some time. So I'd suggest you choose the place."

Chris nodded.

"Okay, "he said. "How about Thai Food?"

"Oh, I love Thai Food." The blonde answered nodding.

"I know." He smirked. "I'll pick you up at," he had a look at his watch. "Eight?"

Jill nodded shyly.

"Yes. Fine."

"Good," Chris said before finally getting into the van.

Jill stayed behind, smiling like an idiot. She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder.

"So?" Claire looked at her expectantly. "Have you told him?"

Jill looked at her and shook her head. "No."

"Jill, you made a promise?" Claire yelled. "What the hell are you waiting for?"

"For dinner. We're going out tonight." The blonde smiled shyly.

"I see." Claire frowned slightly. But not everything was lost. "Where are you having dinner?"

"He said something about Thai Food."

Claire thought a second.

"I think I know where he's taking you. Come on. We need to get you dressed for your big night." She pulled her to her car and drove off.

* * *

 _Wednesday, 7:30 p.m._

It was already completely dark outside when he arrived at the headquarters. The lights were still on, so he wasn't surprised as he saw Lindsay still sitting at the front desk.

"Miss Adams? What are you still doing here?" He smiled at the blonde. "Go home, it's already late."

"Mister Fisher," the young girl answered. "We were all worried about you. When I got the call from Miss Redfield I decided to wait for you to come back and check if you needed anything." Her shy laughter filled the room.

"That's very nice," Neil said. "But I'm okay. I've heard you informed the BSAA about the mine. Thank you for your help."

"It was just some intuition I had." Lindsay stood up and grabbed her handbag and jacket. "I didn't want to take any risk."

"Well done." Neil nodded smiling at her as he took several papers from the reception desk and headed to his office. "Good night Miss Adams."

"Good night Mister Fisher. See you tomorrow."

He dropped into chair when he finally reached his office. What a long, hard day it had been. His gaze fell onto the envelope on the surface. He opened it and had a look at Moira Burton's outstanding test results.

"Remarkable. Burton must have trained his girl well."

Suddenly his phone rang.

"Hello?"

" _Good evening Mister Fisher_." The female voice on the line sounded slightly seductive.

"Who is it?" He frowned and turned around to have a quick look out of the window before closing the blinds one by one.

" _I thought I should speak to you personally, since you have made me lose my dear Johann today. He was my most loyal man and a brilliant servant._ "

Neil leaned back in his chair.

"Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to speak to him," he answered.

" _But you did have the chance to activate the self-destruction system. Thanks for that._ "

"Well, I have certain interests in not letting anyone find those facilities." He smirked. "I couldn't risk being discovered by those BSAA dogs."

" _Of course not. Way too much depends on our little secret_." The female on the line let out a short laughter. " _It's important you don't make any suspicious move now._ "

"You must think I'm completely stupid."

" _Well,"_ she said. " _As far as I can see, you have been stupid enough to let those women follow you."_

A smirk covered his lips and he decided to ignore the woman's challenging comment.

"I've seen what your T-Phobos does," he said. "It's quite impressive."

" _Thank you. But what you saw is actually a failed experiment. In the right host the T-Phobos is as valuable as eternal life."_ She laughed shamelessly. " _I have been working very hard to achieve this. And you will also get your reward when we're done. How is the list going on Mister Fisher?_ "

"Very well, Miss…"

" _You can call me Alex._ "

"Miss Alex." He took the envelope from his desk. "I've just found one last candidate for your experiment. A young girl who did a very impressive psychological test. She's the daughter of an ex S.T.A.R.S. officer and is just about to join TerraSave."

" _I'd like to see your red haired friend's name on that list, too._ "

"Excuse me?"

" _Claire Redfield._ "

Neil swallowed. That crazy woman wanted Claire?

"Redfield?" He giggled nervously. "You should reconsider that. She's a completely overrated team member who only stands out because of her older brother's reputation. Actually, the only reason she's part of TerraSave is that she is a survivor of Raccoon City."

" _I think that makes her a perfect candidate._ "

Neil hesitated. He really cared about Claire and wanted her as far as possible from any trouble.

"Well, I can see if she fits."

" _Oh, I'm sure she does,_ " Alex said. " _Mister Fisher, I don't know if I have been clear enough. I want Claire Redfield for my experiment._ "

Neil sighed deeply. Several feelings seemed to squeeze his heart. Everything he had worked for depended on that bitch's crazy experiment. But was the FBC really more important to him than Claire? He took a deep breath.

"Okay," he finally said, "you'll get her."

* * *

 **Hello my dear readers,**

I updated earlier, yes! It's a special gift to myself because a very long and hard week is awaiting me. The next chapter is coming next Sunday, to reward myself when everything is over xD This is, personally, my favourite chapter until now (but I'm still writing the last ones so that may change.) Because it explains so much. And I've been working for so long on the dialogue Chris-Jill. I would like to know what YOU think about it. Thanks for sharing your opinion with me. EVEN IF YOU THINK IT SUCKS, please let me know! Really :D

For those who guessed Alex was behind all this: Dingdingdingdingding - You were right.

Well, I guess after the T-Phobos was mentioned it was kinda obvious, wasn't it? The reason for the action part in the story is that I just couldn't believe Neil's role in Rev2. His gestures really show concern about Claire. He tries to softly caress her cheek and pushes her away to save her from his mutating self. So I somehow had to make up a reason why he brought her to that island in first place. And... here it is!

You can't imagine how much I appreciate your support. Thank you all for reading, following, liking and reviewing. This story has become an important part of my life these past months and I can't wait to upload new chapters (I know perfectly why I changed the upload day to Mondays. Now my weeks begin with a new chapter for you.)

My very special thanks to:

 **Thebigticket21**. You already know how you always cheer me up with your own stories and your great reviews. Thank you so much for always being there, and for reading my stuff, my friend. Yes, Jill has finally done it! We'll see if this works out :)

 **Sofistinha**. Oooh! Claire is giving Neil a second chance. This may totally introduce a hot'n'dirty one-shot. I'll work on that, I promise. Thank you so much for your review and for feeding my sickest fantasies with your own fics.

Yes, Jill and Chris are going to have dinner together. But of course this won't be the first time they share a meal, right? Has Chris understood what this is about?

Answer: no, he hasn't xD (I wasn't going to make it that easy.) There are still some important discoveries to be made. You will soon find out.

Thank you all for reading. I think I have decided to split the last chapter in two. Why? Mainly because I'd like to finish this with a huge - X - (No, I'm not talking about dirty sex scenes but about the chapter number ¬¬U Your minds are almost as sick as mine xD)

Also, because it's getting really long. And I wouldn't like to break the nice series of 2000-4000 word chapters because of a 6000 word long one.

And, last but not least, because I really don't want it to end T_T

Thanks again. Have a great week.

X


	9. IX - Hits and Punches

_Hello everybody! This is my welcome home gift to myself after a veeery long week in Germany._

 _First of all, let me tell you that the action part is over. This chapter and the following one are about Feelings, nothing more than feelings xD So, if you can't stand it, don't read it xD Also, know that I'm trying my best not to turn this into Disney romance xD_

 _Writing this chapter has been extremely complicated and I've edited and re-edited this hundreds of times. If there's anything that still doesn't fit, please let me know._

 _Oh, I still don't own Resident Evil._

* * *

 **\- IX -**

 **Hits and Punches**

 _Wednesday, 7:40 p.m._

"I must admit, I was sceptical about the idea of you cutting my hair," Jill said letting the image in the mirror impress her. She wore tight blue jeans, a white, short-sleeved shirt and a thin grey jacket on it; all Claire's clothes. Only a small amount of makeup covered her skin and the now shorter blond locks barely brushed against her shoulders. "But you've done a pretty good job."

"I'm glad you like it." Claire giggled. "You'll leave Chris speechless."

Jill closed her eyes. She didn't want to leave him speechless, just the opposite. She wanted him to talk to her; to tell her everything about him she didn't know yet; to say he needed her as much as she needed him. Something about Claire's plan still bothered Jill.

"I still don't think this is a good idea, Claire," she said. "Even if you're right and he sees something more than a friend in me; and I tell you he doesn't; there is a reason that nothing ever happened between us."

"Yes, there is," Claire nodded. "You're both stupid enough to think that you don't deserve to be happy and that your only purpose in this world is fighting evil. Now put these on." She swung elegant black stilettos in front of the blonde's eyes.

Jill sighed, still trying to talk Claire into giving up.

"What if your brother is seeing someone?"

"If he is, it isn't someone important. I would know about that." Claire shook her head at Jill's shy, doubtful gaze.

"By the time we went after Spencer your brother was starting something with a young BSAA employee." The blonde sat down on a chair and put her head in her hands.

"Of course he had his love affairs and even something like a girlfriend when he was younger." She smirked at Jill's grimacing gaze. "But nothing has ever been as important as you. You are one of the two most important women in his life. And if it wasn't for me, his sister, you'd be the only one."

"It's easy for you to say. You already know Neil likes you." Jill narrowed her eyes.

"Maybe." Claire frowned. "But trust me; I have been where you are. I know the uncertainty of caring for someone and not knowing if the feelings are reciprocated. In my case, I found out very soon that they weren't. And it hurt, of course." She laughed and shrugged her shoulders. "But your case is different, Jill. Now, stop worrying and put the shoes on, I'll get you a handbag."

With those words and a wink, Claire left Jill alone in the room and went downstairs. The blonde smiled slightly and stepped back to the mirror.

"I really look amazing."

* * *

While Jill was getting ready, Claire took care of what, in her opinion, could have been the only thing able to stop Chris and the blonde from having sex that night. She emptied a whole box of condoms in the handbag Jill would take with her and hid them under the blonde's purse.

"You'll probably need them," she whispered smiling. "Chris, I hope you take your chance to be happy, once and for all."

She turned around as she heard Jill come down the stairs.

"Wow, Jill," Claire couldn't stop staring at her friend. "You are so beautiful."

"Thank you." She shook her head. "I still have my serious doubts about this evening. If it doesn't turn out well, you'll have to buy me a drink."

"I'll buy you two if it goes wrong; and another two for me," Claire said. "But I'm sure that won't happen. He'll be so stunned when he sees you."

The doorbell rang. Jill couldn't avoid fanning herself with her hand to dry the thin layer of sweat on her forehead. Claire laughed amused at her look and went to the hall to open.

"Hey Chris!"

Chris looked good in his blue jeans and grey button-down shirt, which remarked his muscles in a slight and delicate way. Jill bit her lip at his glance. He greeted his sister with a kiss on the cheek and smiled tenderly as his look fell onto the blonde.

"Wow, you… You look great. Even better than this morning," he said laughing, making her giggle slightly at the comparison. "Your hair is shorter."

"Yeah! I had Claire cut it off since it had been a little burned at the tips." She held a lock between her fingers. "You look great, too."

They stared at each other without quite knowing what else to say. It was like none of them wanted that moment to end and they would have stood there like that forever if Claire hadn't broken the silence.

"Okay, you better get going now. And don't forget this," Claire said handing Jill the handbag with the so important content. She pushed them out the door and waved them goodbye as they got into Chris' Jeep. "Have fun. I'll stay up."

"Don't worry. I promise she'll be home before midnight." Chris gave Jill an amused look.

Claire closed the door when they'd driven off.

"Don't mess this up, Chris," she whispered to herself.

Once she was alone, she pulled her phone out of her pocket.

* * *

 _Wednesday, 8:20 p.m._

The small Thai restaurant placed in a dark backstreet was a secret only few people seemed to know. However, even those few people were far enough to fill the tiny place. Lucky the waiter already knew Chris and had kept the nicest and most intimate spot for him, so he and Jill could talk quietly. They had already had a small chat about Johnson's strange habits and bad manners on their way to the restaurant, and talked about how Claire had recommended the place to her brother while they were waiting for their meal. Chris was the first one in being served.

"That looks very good!" Jill said leaning over to have a better look at the dish.

"Taste some." He lifted his bowl of fried rice with shrimps.

She took up a small amount on her spoon

"Mmmh, it is indeed delicious."

"Take as much as you want," Chris said placing his bowl in the middle of the table between them. "We can even share both dishes."

"Just like old times." Jill smiled at him.

"Just like old times." He nodded, letting out a short laughter.

"Tell me about your new position," she said. "It must be really exciting to lead a whole team of men."

Chris nodded chewing.

"Yes, it is. But it's also a huge responsibility," he said. "But these changes are very recent and we're still seeing if it'll work out. You know, I'm used to work alone."

"Oh, thank you. Now all your partners have been reduced to _nobody_." Jill laughed out loud, amused by his mindless comment.

"Sorry, I didn't mean…" he replied headshaking. "Damn, you already know what I meant."

"I know, I know," she said winking. "Don't worry about the responsibilities, Chris. If there's anyone who can do it, it's you."

He smiled at her compliment.

"You know, it may sound weird," he said. "But when I think of how a good captain should be, the one who always comes to my mind is Wesker, back at S.T.A.R.S. I mean."

"It's not weird at all." She chuckled headshaking. "We all learned a lot from him, even after finding out he worked for Umbrella."

The man gave her a shy smile before he looked down.

"Jill," he said. "I know what you went through was very hard, and I don't want to remind you of it. But there's still something..." He sighed. "Shit, I'm not even sure if I really want to know. And it doesn't make sense because he is already dead, but..."

"He didn't touch me, Chris," she interrupted. He looked up and took a deep, slow breath. She gave him a warm look. "Neither him nor anyone. Not a single time." She shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. "It's not what he was looking for. And I guess it wasn't challenging enough either. He was a man of principles after all." She giggled.

Chris sighed and closed his eyes.

"You can't imagine how relieved I am." He shook his head and looked at her again. "How… how was he being like?"

Jill hesitated before answering his question.

"Distant. Always busy. He never really cared about how I was evolving. But I remember that mad smile on his face when he found out how well the P30 worked." She swallowed. "I knew that wasn't a good sign, of course."

"I'm so sorry Jill. I wish I could make it undone. And I think I never even thanked you properly for what you did." He cleared his throat. "So, thank you, Jill. Thank you for saving my life."

Giving him a warm look, she took his hand.

"Chris, listen. I knew exactly what I did when I tackled Wesker." She smiled. "And even if it didn't come as I had expected; even if I'm not proud of what I was forced to do; I would totally do it again. And I'm so thankful for being here today, sharing this meal with you."

She could see the pain in his eyes and knew it would take some more to help him get over his guilt. She approached his hand to her cheek and softly rubbed it against it.

"Jill, what...?" He couldn't believe she was letting skin contact happen without even blinking. "Since when…?"

"This afternoon; all of a sudden," she said laughing and a proud smirk suited her lips. "And I also shot a weapon."

"You did?" Chris couldn't believe it. He suddenly saw the spark of his old partner in the woman in front of him. His eyes started to glow and he smiled widely at her.

"I knew this would cheer you up," she said, letting go of his hand. "I'll be fine Chris, don't worry about me and, please, stop torturing yourself."

He looked at her and couldn't hold back a grin. Her eyes had recovered their natural glow, though the color was clearer now. And she looked so beautiful. "Yes, you're back," he whispered smirking.

They smiled at each other in silence and kept on enjoying their meal together.

* * *

When the waiter brought the bill, Chris made an attempt to pay, but Jill stopped him.

"Please Chris, let me do this. This was my idea, after all." She winked. "Besides, I have recently found out that my bank account is still active. Someone must have forgotten to close it." She winked.

"Really?" Chris faked surprise. "Maybe the application form was left on the backseat of someone's car." He grinned at her.

"Thank you, Chris." She laughed.

"I couldn't stop the BSAA from selling your apartment, but I could save this." He nodded.

"This is more than you should have done. Please stop risking your job for me."

"Oh, come on. They're not going to fire me." He grinned. "As you said earlier, we founded the BSAA."

They smirked at each other. As Jill pulled out the purse from her handbag to pay she saw the present Claire had left for her.

"What the damn hell?"

* * *

 _Wednesday, 10:05 p.m._

"A great restaurant," Jill said as they got into the car. "Claire should recommend you places more often."

"Oooh, you have no idea what you're saying!" Chris laughed headshaking. "Claire would recommend absolutely every place to eat. She's as happy with a five-star menu as in a fast food restaurant as long as they serve desserts. This place was actually a tip from a friend of hers."

"I see." Jill smiled. Chris was about to start the engine as his phone beeped.

"It's a message from Sheva," he said. "She's happy to hear you're getting back to work."

"That's nice," the blonde said. "How is she?"

"Good." Chris nodded and finally started the car. "She asked a lot about you during her visit here."

Something about the news bothered Jill. Sheva had come?

"Her visit?"

"Yes. She came about four months ago for a couple of weeks. The cold weather did make her have a very tough time here but she enjoyed being back in the States."

"Why didn't you tell me she was here?" Jill frowned.

"Well, she actually wanted to pay you a visit but it was right when the nurses didn't let anyone speak to you," he explained.

"I see. What a pity." She forced a regretful smile. His words had made her feel a stabbing sensation in her chest. He had not answered her question. Why hadn't he told her about Sheva's visit? Had something had happened between them? Sheva was very young, yes. But Jill knew that Chris believed that age didn't matter if there was chemistry.

"But you'll see her when she comes back in ten weeks, okay?" He turned to her.

"That would be great." A laugh left her throat. This time, it was completely sincere. She laughed at herself for having expected anything. Of course Chris was not available. Sheva was a young, strong and extremely beautiful woman. Who in the world would not fall for her? Jill bit her lip and smiled. She smiled for Chris' and Sheva's happiness and at her own foolish intentions. She was pissed. It was all Claire's fault. It had been the redhead who had given her hope and expectations about this date with Chris. Now it turned out that it wasn't even a date. It was just dinner with a friend. She frowned, hoping they'd arrive home soon. The only thing she wanted now was another one of those ice-cream tubs Claire stored in her freezer. She clenched her teeth.

"So, here we are," Chris said turning off the engine in front of Claire's vacation home. He looked at Jill and grinned. "Thank you. I've had a lot of fun tonight."

"Me too," she forced a smile. "I guess I needed this." At least it had opened her eyes.

"Come, I'll walk you to the door."

'What for?' she thought frowning. 'I'm sure I can make it inside without getting lost and you're not going to kiss me goodnight either.'

He opened the car door, she followed him. A terrible thought hit her when she saw that all the lights inside were turned off.

"Chris," she said. "I think Claire is not home."

He looked at the building.

"Maybe she's fallen asleep."

"Sure, and her car drove off by itself," she said narrowing her eyes. "Chris, she's not here."

He realized Jill was right. But where had Claire gone so late? He grabbed his phone and dialed his sister's number.

"Come on Claire, answer," he mumbled. "Please, Claire. Don't do thi… Claire! Where are you? Are you alright?" he yelled hastily. Jill sighed in relief as she heard the rustling sound of the speaker Chris had pressed against his ear. "You're where? Tell me you're not with Fisher… What? Kennedy?" He rolled his eyes and snapped his tongue. "Claire Redfield, listen to me, move your ass back to where you were supposed to wait for Jill to come back." Chris sounded angry.

Jill froze. Had Claire really planned all that to make her stay with Chris? She clenched her teeth in anger. The redhead would definitely have to pay for playing tricks on her.

"She isn't coming, right?" She asked as Chris hung up the phone. He shook his head.

"I don't know how to apologize to you, Jill. Claire is usually a very responsible person," he said. Jill raised a brow remembering how Claire had put herself in danger several times that day. "But every time her friend Leon is in town she completely loses grip."

"Leon Kennedy?" She grinned. "I didn't know they knew each other."

"They escaped from Raccoon City together. And don't look like that. According to both, they are just good friends," he said shoulder shrugging. "Like you and I."

"Like you and I," she repeated, realizing how much those words upset her. "Don't worry about me Chris; I'll wait here for her. I'm sure she's coming back soon."

"Forget it," he said. "Even if she's a grown up woman, I still feel responsible for my sister's decisions and her mistakes. Get into the car. You'll stay at my place."

Jill swallowed and cursed Claire for her stupid ideas.

* * *

 _Wednesday, 10:35 p.m._

"Come in, make yourself comfortable." Chris opened the door and led her into his apartment. "Do you want a drink?"

She shook her head.

"No, thank you. I'm fine." She looked around. The apartment was exactly as she remembered it. Dimly lit, a little messy and with a nice smell of cigarettes in the air. She was sure he'd tell her that he had given up smoking months before, but that the stench had somehow remained on the walls. He watched her walk around the room in silence.

"A penny for your thoughts," he said.

"They are worth way more than a penny," she replied laughing and kept looking around. "This is like travelling back in time. Everything still looks like four years ago."

"Well, you know how much I hate changes" he yelled heading to the kitchen. "Are you sure you don't want a drink?"

She shook her head again and continued inspecting randomly the stuff that could be found in his apartment. Soon her look fell onto a picture of Chris and several BSAA agents. She felt disappointed when she recognized Sheva right next to him. He had his arm laid around her shoulders and looked very happy. As far as she knew, Chris had never been the type of men who had photographs of his loved ones on a shelf. He didn't even have a picture of Claire or his parents. He had always said that photographs were material nonsense used only to remind him of things he'd remember even better without them. And even so, he had a picture of Sheva on that sideboard. She felt anger burn inside her. How could she have been so stupid? Chris and she were simply not meant to be more than friends and partners. She sighed. If she had to stay the night at Chris' place she'd need to calm down. Nothing of that was his fault and she didn't want to seem moody around him.

"May I use your bathroom, Chris?"

"That way." He leaned out of the kitchen and pointed to a corridor. "Second door on the right."

"Thanks."

The pain in her chest and stomach didn't let her think nor breathe clearly. She tried to cry, but couldn't get a single tear out of her eyes. No, crying wasn't something the new Jill was able to. At least, not because of a man; even if it was her partner. She looked into the mirror and couldn't help but laugh. If Chris had been aware of how she had styled up for him he'd have laughed, too. She had even put on those ridiculously high heels for him. What a stupid idea of Claire's. She should have never listened to the redhead, who just wanted her brother to be happy with someone.

"He is already happy, Claire," she whispered, glad and sadly disappointed at once. "Your efforts were completely needless." She smiled at herself and decided to forget about Chris and go back to be just friends with him. It was the best for everyone. She took off her shoes and left the bathroom.

As she walked through the hall to the living room, she noticed that the door to the next room was ajar. She hadn't meant to peek inside, but through the small space between door and frame she caught a glimpse of a familiar object in the moonlight. Curiously, she opened the door.

* * *

 **Hello people out there! I hope you had a fantastic week.**

And I hope you liked the chapter. I had a pretty hard time portraying new, recovered Jill, since I didn't want her to act like a jealous teenager. I decided she'd just accept that Chris is dating Sheva and laugh at the situation (and at herself, yes xD). Poor Jill, Claire will have to buy her many drinks.

And, by the way. Yes, here, Claire and Leon are really just good friends. But we'll talk about that later ;)

Thank you so much for reading, following, liking and reviewing this. I think I owe some replies to the following people:

 **Thebigticket21:** Your review and your updates made this past week much lighter. Especially your review, which I read right before the plane took off. Thank you so much for always being there, my friend. Yes, Jill is still a little shy, but I imagine that behind that badass image there's still a woman who wants to be loved, and REAL love issues are always complicated, aren't they?

 **Adonna2424** : Thanks again for your reviews :D And you are right. There are several odd words and expressions in my writing. I wasn't aware of it until you told me. As I promised, I will improve. Thanks again :) And I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

 **Sofistinha:** Yes, Claire will have dinner with Neil again; and, yes, that will be the base for a super hot Fisherfield muahaha You're right. Claire sees the good spirit in everyone. That's why she's so easy to pair up with Wesker I guess, hahaha. I'm so happy you liked the last chapter. Thanks for your support sis.

Next chapter will come next week (probably on Monday). Thank you everybody!


	10. X - Blame it on the piano

Hello my dear readers. Welcome to the last chapter of Hands and Tools (yeah, well, there's going to be an epilogue... but we'll talk about that later xD)

First of all, I need to apologize. I didn't mean to turn this into a smut, but I just couldn't cut it xD So, though I never warned about any of the violence or explicit language in previous chapters, and following my friend Sofistinha's advice, I need to warn you now.

 **First official A/N: This chapter contains (very mild) smutty adult content. I'm going to mark the beginning and the end so you can start reading without fear.**

 **I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

 **\- X -**

 **Blame it on the piano**

The stilettos and her handbag landed on the floor as she recognized the familiar object. There, in the middle of that room in Chris' apartment, lightened only by the moon, stood her old piano.

"That can't be." Magically attracted, she walked over to the huge instrument. It was indeed her piano, as beautiful as she remembered it. It had helped her over so much pain, doubts and fears all over the years. After the incident in the Arklay mountains she had played a whole night long, one song after another, until the pain had ceased. A smile popped onto her lips as her fingers ran over the brilliant surface. Music had been one of the things she had missed the most during her captivity, for sure. She couldn't resist the temptation and uncovered the keyboard. After tucking her hair behind her right ear she started hitting the keys, playing the first melody that came to her mind. Yes, her fingers had lost flexibility over the years. But even if her playing wasn't as smooth and fluent as it had used to be, the comforting sound made her feel better instantly.

"It has always to be the Moonlight Sonata, hasn't it?" Jill turned around shocked, finding Chris leaning against the door frame and giving her a tender look.

"I know. It reminds me of Spencer, too. But I always loved this piece." She smiled and turned to the piano again; sliding her fingers over the keys.

"This was actually meant to be a surprise." He stepped closer until he stood next to her. "Tomorrow it's being taken to your new apartment. I've had it tuned today. I'm glad it sounds good."

"It's perfect." She suddenly realized that the room they were in, where her piano had been stored, was Chris' bedroom. A lot of clothes and two half unpacked suitcases surrounded the King size bed she had helped him choose several years before. _When I'm home, I want to sleep comfortably_ , he had replied to her question if he really needed such a huge bed. And along with all of his most intimate belongings, there was her piano.

"I can't believe you kept this," she whispered.

"Of course I did," he said smiling. "It's yours."

She looked at him in disbelief. It was much more than she could have ever asked for. Nothing seemed to matter anymore. No Wesker, or the years she had lost. No BOWs, bioterror or other world problems. No Sheva. It was just the two of them. The moonlight drew a beautiful glow into his eyes and, against her own predictions, Jill found herself not wanting to resist the temptation any longer. Guided by the rhythm of her fast pounding heart, she counted down to zero, closed her eyes, stood on tiptoes, and pressed her lips onto Chris'.

He was surprised, of course, and intuitively tried to pull back, but she managed to hold on to his neck and not let go of him until he'd overcome the first shock. Although he could have easily broken the kiss, once he'd pulled himself together, he didn't do so. He didn't kiss her back either.

She prepared herself to be pushed away as she felt how he grabbed her arms. But he didn't push her. Instead, he pulled her closer. She couldn't believe it. Chris finally responded to her kiss, parting his lips to move them slowly over hers. She opened her mouth, giving his tongue free access. His right hand searched for her neck and his thumb caressed her cheek as they both explored each other's cavity. She slung her arms around his trained torso and could feel his muscles pressing against her chest. The touch of cigarettes she had expected to taste couldn't be perceived. Maybe he had really given up smoking. The mere thought made her giggle into his demanding and yet calm and tender kiss. How often had they had the chance to do that? Hundreds of times? Thousands of times? And even so, they had never taken it.

Chris suddenly pulled apart and smiled at her, delicately taking the chance to comb her hair out of her face.

"Is this really happening?" He frowned in disbelief.

She smiled at him and put her fingers onto his collar, just to start unbuttoning his shirt.

"Nothing has happened yet," she said giving him a playful look, before catching his lips again.

 **[SMUT MODE ON]**

Without offering any type of resistance, he let her undo button after button and strip the shirt off his shoulders, throwing it onto the floor while she slid out of her jacket. Their lips parted again and she lifted her arms so he could pull her shirt over her head. Finally able to touch her, his fingers traced a line over her collarbone and down to the spot where he had once pulled the P30 device off her chest. He leaned forward and kissed it softly as an attempt to ease the pain of the past. She closed her eyes and arched her back, moaning slightly in pleasure, enjoying every one of his caresses. It felt like a dream; an intense and amazing dream. But her lips still hungered for his. She cupped his jaw and pulled him towards her mouth again. It made him throw his arms around her and embrace her tight as his tongue stroked hers again. Hasty fingers ran over his back along every single line his muscles drew under his skin. The need to feel him even closer became unbearable and it made her hands run down his body. She chuckled into his kiss as she felt how much he wanted her, and just started to stroke him curiously through his pants, releasing a soft groan from his throat. Her heart rate accelerated as she felt his hands unhook her bra. The lingerie ended on the floor along with their other clothing.

They stopped undressing and stood there for a while, chest on chest, exploring their bodies with mouth and hands, caressing each other, feeling the sensation of their bare skin under their fingertips. How good his hands felt on her body. It was hard to imagine that the same hands which had killed Wesker were now making her feel so loved; and also her own usually so rough tools were returning him those loving caresses.

The blonde slung her arms around his neck as he put his hands on her waist and thighs and lifted her up. Still kissing her, he carried her to his bed and laid her down. The sheet felt cold against her bare back, but Chris' body on hers covered her with his warmth. Running his hands up and down her body and caressing her breasts, he caught her lips again. A moan slid through their kisses as she put her fingers on his belt.

"Jill," he gasped before biting her earlobe softly. "You can't imagine how much I wanted this."

Laughter escaped from her throat before their eyes met again. She bit her lip.

"I wanted it too."

The smile on his lips didn't even disappear when he pressed them onto her skin again, licking and kissing his way down her body from her jaw to her belly button. He undid the zipper of her jeans and pulled them down, along with her panties.

"How beautiful you are," he whispered as he kissed her thighs. A shy but shrill laughter left her throat.

"Are you going to stare at me like this forever?" she asked. He looked at her with desire before he bent over to the nightstand and opened the drawer.

"Oh, shit…"

She turned her look to the empty drawer.

"Was that your secret condom storage?" She saw him rubbing the back of his head, giving her a displeased look.

"I think we will have to stop here," he complained. Jill couldn't help but laugh at his expression.

"Don't worry," she said placing a kiss on his lips. She got up, making him move aside, and ran to the door, where she had left the handbag. She took two of the small packages and showed them to Chris. "Your sister took care of that. So, if the empty drawer was just an excuse to get rid of me, you better tell me now."

He smiled at her incredulously at first, but then reached out his hand, inviting her to join him again. A shy look dresses her face as she kneeled down on the mattress. He pulled her closer into a deep kiss, laying her down again. After putting on the condom, he climbed onto her again, carefully, in order not to hurt her. Caressing her cheek, he kissed her and pushed slowly into her.

The pain made her push her fingernails into his skin as she felt him enter. She hadn't expected her first time after several years to be that painful; but the pleasure of knowing it was Chris who was causing it also eased the ache. He was being extremely gentle and went very slow, not increasing his rhythm until he felt her get more comfortable and wide up around him.

No other relationship before had made her feel as protected as she felt with Chris. After all, he was far more than just another man whom to share the sheets with. They had been uniquely united through all those years; as partners and as best friends. That friendship, however, along with the deepest respect for each other, had always made the idea of becoming lovers impossible to both of them. But even so, there they were, in Chris' king sized bed, sharing all they had. And it felt so completely natural; as if they hadn't done anything else in their whole life.

But she still didn't want to let him decide the rhythm all night long. Throwing her arm around his neck she pushed him to the left, flipping him onto his back, getting on top of him. He seemed surprised by her ability, but smiled at the lascivious look on her face. She leaned over to kiss him once more and started to move.

She loved having the control and it didn't seem to bother him, since he now had his hands free to touch and caress her. It felt so good. He closed his eyes as she started moving faster and she knew he was enjoying it as much as she was. She took his hand and pressed it against her breast as she felt she was getting close. He pulled her closer into a deep, passionate kiss and embraced her, feeling his own climax approach. They finished holding on to each other tightly.

 **[SMUT MODE OFF]**

* * *

Only their heavy breathing could be heard in the room. The comforting sound seemed their only possibility to delay the unavoidable converstaion afterwards. But even that sound ceased as they slowly recovered breath, leaving them in almost total silence. Jill had just dropped onto Chris' body right after they had finished. With her ear pressed against his chest, she was now watching the nocturnal ambience through the window. He himself had his head turned towards the door, still caressing her blond hair. Their natural complicity from before had turned into a shameful discomfort, which didn't let them know what to say to each other or how to get out of there. What had they done?

She couldn't stand the silence any longer and lifted her head to look into Chris' eyes.

"Hey," she said, her voice barely louder than a whisper.

"Hey." He tangled his fingers in her hair. "Are you alright?"

She nodded, forcing a smile.

"Chris," she mumbled looking down. "I'm sorry." He frowned.

"Sorry for what?" He gave her a questioning look.

"For losing control." She swallowed. "But I was so excited about the piano and I thought..."

"Wait." He sat up, freeing himself from her weight. His stabbing look hit hers. "Are you saying you slept with me because I kept the piano?" Her hesitation seemed more that enough to confirm his theory. "Oh, great. Fantastic." He let go a short sarcastic laughter and got up from the bed, leaving her behind. "You should have told me before that this is just your particular way to say 'thank you'. Congratulations, you almost made me think this had meant something. I wonder what you'll do to Johnson when he gets you your new car next week." He reached for his pants on the floor and started getting dressed.

Damnit, that hurt! Chris had always been very creative choosing his words, but that was the first time he had turned his anger against her. And she deserved it. She watched him as he pulled his pants up, ignoring her presence. Had she ever seen him that angry and hurt? Probably not. And the thought that she was the one who had caused it was killing her. It was time to tell the truth and stop hiding behind pianos.

"Chris, wait," she said searching for his eyes.

"For what?" He looked back at her with a disappointed expression on his face. What explanation was she coming up with? She cleared her throat.

"Of course it wasn't the piano. I slept with you because I wanted it." She swallowed. "Because I love you." His eyes widened slightly and his lips parted. She breathed in deeply. "The piano just made me forget all the reasons why it was still a bad idea."

He held her gaze. The anger had disappeared from his eyes, but she couldn't tell what feeling had taken its place. Time seemed to stretch into a neverending torture.

"And what are those reasons, Jill?" he finally said in a calm but doubtful tone.

She sighed.

"Well, there's our job and our common goals. There's our friendship I don't want to risk." She looked down. "And there's Sheva," she added in a whisper. He blinked incredulously.

"Did you say 'Sheva'?" He frowned. "Jill, you won't happen to think…?" She stared at him. Her eyes asking for an explanation.

"You're not...?" A smile popped onto her face at the gaze of his almost indiscernibly shaking head. "No, of course you're not with Sheva." She threw herself backwards onto the bed and hid her face in her hands. "You would never cheat on Sheva." Her relieved laughter filled the air.

He smiled doubtfully and sat on the corner of the bed again, looking over to her.

"What in the world made you think that Sheva and I...?"

"You did!" She sat up immediately. "First you didn't tell me she was here. And then you even refused to explain why you had kept it a secret." He grinned as he watched her reasoning. "And you have that picture in your living room."

Again, silence. Chris was surely as confused as she was. And she couldn't even blame him for it. The situation was freaking her out as well.

"Okay, maybe I wasn't being very clear before." His look met hers. "Jill, listen. If I didn't tell you, it was because I didn't want to make you feel more isolated in rehab." He sighed. "Those months in the hospital did you more wrong than I could have ever imagined. And you weren't yourself any more." His hand wandered to hers. "I could save you from Wesker, but I couldn't get you out of the labs."

She grinned shyly and squeezed his hand. "Thank you, Chris."

"And that group photograph in the living room is just a picture of the day I was assigned as the captain of the S.O.U. It's mere coincidence Sheva's on it." He laughed.

Jill lowered her head and laughed again.

"You must think I'm horribly stupid. But you have to admit that it's quite suspicious that she's on the only picture in your whole apartment." She gave him a challenging look.

He instantly turned around and switched on the lamp on the nightstand. The new light source showed all those details Jill had missed in the darkness of the night. Like that shelf on the wall between the bed and the door, and the photographs placed on it. There was one of Chris and a teenage Claire; one of two elder people and Claire as a child; one of a motorbike with Claire on it; and that one that made Jill's heart beat faster. It was a picture of Chris and herself, taken the day they had received their first B.S.A.A. uniforms. How happy they looked.

"But you always said…" she said with shivery voice. He gave her a naughty smirk.

"Photographs are material nonsense, yes." He nodded smiling. "I just keep the most important ones where I most need them." She looked at him, obviously moved. "So, I think there are only two reasons left." He raised an eyebrow.

She swallowed.

"Yes." Her soft whisper could barely be heard. "But they are important ones, don't you think?"

"Maybe," He held her gaze. "What if I gave you one good reason to ignore them?"

"I'm all ears." Her still doubtful look made him grin widely. He reached for her and pulled her closer.

"I love you too, Jill," he whispered and slid his lips over her cheek, close to the corner of her mouth. The touch sent a shiver down her spine.

"Well," she said shivering "I guess that is indeed a pretty good reason."

He looked deeply into her eyes, reading all of her emotions through her shiny look as his hands and fingers kept sliding over her delicate skin.

"Right?" He laid her down again, enfolding her in his arms. "Also, I think we make quite a good team here, too."

"Yeah, we do." She giggled holding on to him. "Partner."

"God, I've been hoping for this for so long." He placed a tiny kiss on her lips. "I was just too foolish to admit it."

"I didn't want to see it either," she whispered into his kiss and embraced him tightly. "I had to die and be reborn to understand it."

He pulled away to give her a serious look.

"Don't do that ever again, Jill," he scolded. "Don't ever risk your life for me again."

She laughed.

"I can't promise you that, Chris. I'm sorry, but I can't. No matter how selfish it may sound; a world without Chris Redfield in it is not a world I want to live in." She cupped his chin.

"This is so selfish," he said smiling and placed a kiss on her lips. "And childish." Another kiss. "And stupid." Another one. "And it's exactly how I feel about you."

She smiled at him, moved by his words.

"I'm sort of relieved we're not going to be partners on field again."

"Yes, me too."

With those words he closed the distance between them again.

* * *

Yeeeaaaah! That's it! I've really done it!

THANK YOU ALL so much for joining me in this adventure; for reading, following, liking and reviewing.

 **A very big and special thank you to my good friend Thebigticket21** , for your support all over the weeks. So, nothing was as it seemed and we finally got our Valenfield ending. I really hope you enjoyed the story as much as I enjoy yours, my friend :D As I already told you, a weekend without one of your updates is an incomplete weekend.

 **Of course, I also want to thank my sis Sofistinha** for helping me with the doubts I had about this chapter. I hope you like how it turned out in the end ;) I know you're a little busy lately, but I'm still waiting for the next chapter of 'She loves me not'.

 **Guest**. Thank you for your review (I would have definitely replied in a PM if I had known who to send it to xD) As you wish! Here we have our Valenfield together and Sheva far far away (Personally, though I actually enjoy good Creva stories, if I was her I'd get someone younger than Chris xD). And about Jill's giggles, I was probably imagining a "nervous" giggle and didn't describe it well enough ;P I also think that Jill wants to seem tough in front of Chris, who is still feeling very guilty for what happened to her. But, yeah, you're probably right about the giggling thing :D

And that's all. Thank you all so much for your support. You are AMAZING!

PS: The epilogue is coming soon.


	11. Epilogue

**Hello again and welcome to the epilogue [sound echoes through the room]**

 **First of all, I want to thank you all for your support. This story has become a very important part of my life during the last months and you can't imagine how happy I am to have shared this with all of you.**

 **Of course, I still don't own Resident Evil. I just borrow their characters for my little games ;)**

* * *

 **\- Epilogue -**

 **Just friends**

 _Thursday, 7:30 a.m._

...Eight, nine, thirty, thirty-one, two, three… She sprinted up the stairs, carrying her friend's small suitcase in one hand and a takeaway coffee cup in the other and constantly cursing her brother who, even making way more money than her, preferred to live in an apartment block without elevator. It had to be the only building in the whole area where that lifting technology hadn't arrived yet. His damn habit of not wanting changes was simply dumb. Breathless, she reached the door to his apartment. Hoping to find a positive result of her plan for the previous night, she knocked, fidgeting around nervously until the door swung open. She looked down at her friend's outfit.

"I'm glad I'm bringing your clothes," she said walking across the door without waiting for being asked to. "You wouldn't want to wear Chris' shirt all day long, would you?" She left the suitcase on the floor, took off her sunglasses and smiled widely at the blonde.

Jill just shrugged shoulders, giving her a cheeky smirk.

"I wouldn't mind. It smells like him."

Claire leaned on the counter. "Tell me everything!"

"Everything? Really?"

The activist hesitated seeing Jill's questioning gaze.

"Okay, not absolutely everything." She giggled. "How often?"

"Claire!" the blonde yelled amused. But under her friend's insisting look she finally lifted three fingers.

"Not bad! Was my little present useful?" She winked. Jill nodded shyly.

"How did you know?"

"Well, he's been my brother for more than thirty years and I know he only remembers things when it's already too late." Claire laughed headshaking. "Where is he, by the way?"

"In the shower," Jill replied. "But I'm sure he's coming out soon."

"Too bad I can't stay. I wanted to give him the 'I told you speech' I've been rehearsing all night long."

"Really?" Jill gave her a challenging smirk. "Is that what you've been doing all night long with Kennedy?"

Claire looked at her astonished, understanding perfectly the hidden sense in her words.

"Take that back, Valentine!" She forced a shrill laughter and moved her sunglasses up to her head. "Leon is my best friend!"

"Just friends, hu?" Jill raised an eyebrow in an obviously teasing way. "Just like your brother and I were until yesterday?"

"Yes, but; no offence; Leon and I have a much more mature friendship." She laid a hand on her chest and shook her head eagerly. "No hidden feelings. No sex."

"What a pity, having such a handsome best friend..." The blonde was having a pretty good time provoking her friend.

"Yes, Jill, I know the bastard's very good looking." She rolled her eyes. "Lucky he's also emotional wasteland which keeps me totally from wanting him for anything else than chatting, laughing and sharing desserts."

"Emotional wasteland? Well, however…" Jill shook her head to finally get rid of the ideas her friends was fighting against. "Claire." She gave her friend a warm look. "Thank you for everything. Really."

"You're welcome." The redhead winked. "I knew you wouldn't make it without help." She turned around and headed to the door. "I have to go now. I'm double parking. Tell Chris to call me."

"I'll do that." Jill smiled. Her friend had almost reached the door when her need to know more made her call her back. "Claire!"

Claire turned around and gave her a curious look.

"Yes?"

"Does it still hurt?"

Claire looked at her stunned when she remembered the conversation they'd had the evening before. She hesitated shortly before a smirk popped onto her lips.

"No, it doesn't." She smiled shyly. "No matter what they say, the head is stronger than the heart. And forgetting is easy once you truly understand it's the best for you."

Jill smiled widely and nodded at her friend.

"I was talking about your foot, of course."

The redhead narrowed her eyes and forced a wide smile.

"Yes," she said softly. "Me too."

She smiled again and opened the door, leaving Jill behind with whatever her thoughts were.

"Stupid Valentine!"

* * *

 **And with this short epilogue I would like to invite you to have a look at my new fic _Just friends_ , which is mainly about Claire, Leon and their mature friendship without feelings or sex... Sounds boring, right? Well, I'm rating it M, just to be safe xD **

**It'll be related to _Hands and Tools_ , but still different. **

**Thebigticket21** : My friend, you've been here since the very beginning and I couldn't be more grateful. Thank you for sharing your opinion with me and for being such a huge inspiration with your own Valenfield (and Cleon) stories. I guess this hasn't been the typical epilogue where it's said that they live happily ever after. But of course they're not living happily for a very long time. This is RE, after all T_T And RE means problems xD I'm sorry to tell you that the "real" epilogue will be part of _Just Friends_ :S

 **Stardust4:** Thank you so much for your encouraging review. I think many people here would like to see Claire and Jill together in a game, even not being partners. Chris and Leon were in RE6, Chris and Leon will be in Vendetta... It's always Chris and Leon, Chris and Leon... It's time for them to move aside and let the girls handle this. Although Capcom seems to have a good time making them fight and argue. And, well, Jill and Claire would never act so childishly xD

And very special thanks to my sis **Sofistinha** who always guides me out of my doubts.

That's all, my friends. Thank you very much!


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